,^^^^,., 



4 



I 




"^Camp Cookery 

By 
HORACE KEPHART- 

Author of 

Camping and Woodcraft, The Hunting 

Rifle, etc. 



Illustrated With Pen Drawings of Camp Utensils, 
' Outfits, etc. 




MCMX 

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY 

NEW YORK 



^-ra 




4, 



J 



^ y 

^J^ 



Copyright, 1910, by 

OUTING PUBLISHING COMPANY 

Entered at Stationer's Hall, London, Eng. 
All rights reserved 



©C1.A265079 



1^ 



(Dedication) 
TO 

MISTRESS BOB 

Who taught me some clever expedients 
of backwoods cookery that are lost arts 
wherever the old forest has been leveled. 



FOREWORD. 



The less a man carries in his pack, the more he 
must carry in his head. 

A camper cannot go by recipe alone. It is best 
for him to carry sound general principles in his 
head, and recipes in his pocket. 

The simpler the outfit, the more skill it takes to 
manage it, and the more pleasure one gets in his 
achievements. 



, CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

Foreword vii 

I Provisions 1 

II Utensils 18 

III Fires 28 

IV Dressing and Keeping Game and Fish 36 
V Meat 49 

VI Game 65 

VII Fish and Shellfish 82 

VIII Cured Meats, etc.— Eggs 93 

IX Breadstuff s and Cereals 102 

X Vegetables. — Soups 121 

XI Beverages and Desserts 135 

Appendix 144 



CAMP COOKERY 



A TABLE. 



FOR READY REFERENCE IN CHOOSING WHAT TO COOK. 

All recipes in this book are here grouped under 
Quick, Medium, or Slow, according to the time 
they take. Everything under Quick can be pre- 
pared in less than 25 minutes, and so is specially 
suitable for breakfast or luncheon. 

The table also shows at a glance what recipes 
call for milk, butter, or eggs, and what do not. 
The following abbreviations are used: 

E = Eggs required (whole or desiccated). 

B = Butter required. 

M ==■ Milk required (may be evaporated or 
powdered). 

E*= Eggs desirable, but may be omitted. 

J3*=: Butter desirable, but other fat may 
be substituted. 

M*= Milk desirable, but water may be sub- 
stituted. 

f = Made over from previously boiled ma- 
terial. > 

Quick. 
{Under 25 minutes.) 

Fresh Meat, Game. Page 

Broiled meat, game, B.* 52 

Fried meat, game 50 

Kabobs 54 

Brains, fried 66 

Liver, fried 66 

Milt, broiled 66 

Venison sausages 67 

Small birds, roasted. B.* 79 

Frog legs, broiled or fried. B.* 89 

Fish. 
Fish, fried 82 

xi 



xii A TABLE. 

Page 

Fish, broiled. B* 83 

Fish, skewered 83 

Shellfish. 

Oysters, stewed. B, M..* 90 

Oysters, fried. E 91 

Oysters, scalloped. B 91 

Oysters, saut6. B 91 

Cured Meat. 

Bacon, broiled, fried, toasted 92 

Salt pork, broiled or fried 94 

Ham, boiled or fried 95 

Bacon, or ham, and eggs. E 92 

Pork fritters 94 

Pork sausages 95 

Slumgullion 96 

Dried beef, creamed. M, B.* 96 

Cured or Canned Fish. 

Smoked herring, toasted 98 

Smoked herring, fried. B.* 98 

Sprats 98 

Salmon, creamed. M 98 

Salmon, scalloped. B, 31 98 

Salmon on toast. B, E, M 98 

Sardines, fried. B* E.* 99 

Eggs. 

Eggs, poached (fresh). B.* 101 

Eggs, boiled (fresh) 101 

Eggs, fried (fresh) 99 

Eggs, scrambled (fresh or desiccated). B.* 99 

Omelets (fresh or desiccated) . B.* 100 

Bread. 

Biscuit loaf 105 

Biscuits 106 

Dropped biscuits 107 

Breakfast rolls. B, E, M 107 

Unleavened bread 109 

French toast. E 114 

Milk toast. B, M 115 

IfRice muffins. E, M 120 

Pancakes, etc. 

Flapjacks, plain 113 

Egg pancakes. E 113 

Snow pancakes 113 

UMixed cakes 114 

Corn batter cakes. E* M.* c 114 



A TABLE. xiii 

Page 

Buckwheat cakes. E,* M.* 114 

"Gritted" bread 112 

Fried quoits 115 

Fritters. B*E,M* 115 

Dumplings. M* 117 

Porridge, etc. 

IFFried mush 118 

HFried grits, rice 130 

Rolled oats 119 

Breakfast cereals 120 

Vegetables. 

Potatoes, fried 124 

Potatoes, stewed. B, M 124 

UPotatoes, mashed. B* M 123 

^Potatoes, lyonnaise 124 

Potato cakes. E* M.* 123 

HSweet potatoes, fried 125 

Potatoes and onions, hashed 125 

Green corn, roasted. B.* 127 

Greens, boiled (some kinds). B.* 127 

Mushrooms. B 129 

Canned tomatoes, stewed. B.* 129 

Canned corn, stewed. B,* M.* 130 

Soups. 

Condensed soups 133 

Tomato Soup. B, M 132 

Beverages, 

Coffee 135 

Tea 135 

Chocolate. M 136 

Gravies. 

Braising gravy 55 

Frying gravy 61 

Broiling gravy. B.* 52 

Boiling gravy. B 62 

Roasting gravy 62 

Beef extract gravy 62 

Cream gravy. B, M 63 

Rabbit gravy 70 

Bacon gravy, thin 94 

Pork gravy, thick. M.* 94 

Roux 62 

Sauces. 

Barbecue sauce. B.* 55 

Mustard sauce. B 63 



xiv A TABLE. 

Pag« 

Venison sauce. B 63 

Broiled venison sauce. B 63 

Giblet sauce. B* M* 76 

Celery sauce. B, M 80 

Cranberry sauce 80 

Curry sauce. B, M* 80 

Butter sauce. B 86 

White sauce. B, M 87 

Lemon sauce. B, M 87 

India sauce. B, M 87 

Sweet sauce. B 143 

Brandy sauce. B 143 

Fruit sauce 143 

Salad dressing 128 

Medium. 
{25 to 4^ minutes.) 

Fresh Meat, Game. 

Small mammals, roasted 53, 73 

Heart, braised 66 

Liver, roasted 66 

Game pot pie. B* 67 

Curry of game. B* 69 

Game pie 69 

Small game, barbecued 69 

Small game, fricasseed 75 

Duck, roasted or baked 78 

Grouse, roasted 79 

Game birds, boiled 77 

Fish. 

Fish, baked 85 

Fish, boiled. B 86 

Fish, roasted. B.* 84 

Fish, planked. B.* 84 

Fish, steamed 85 

Fish Chowder. B* 31* 87 

Fish cakes. E 88 

Fish roe 89 

Eel, stewed. M 89 

Shellfish, etc. 

Clams, baked. B 91 

Clam chowder. M 92 

Crayfish, boiled 90 

Cured Meats, 

Bacon and liver 92 

Pork and hardtack 95 



A TABLE. XV 

Page 

Corned beef hash , 96 

Canned meat stew 96 

Cured Fish. 

Salt fish, broiled 97 

Codfish balls. B* 97 

Bread. 

Army bread 107 

Johnny cake 110 

Corn dodgers 110 

Ash cake Ill 

.Corn bread. B, E, M Ill 

Corn batter bread. E, M Ill 

Snow bread ■:. Ill 

Cereals, etc. 

Rice, boiled .* 119 

Rice, curried 120 

Risotto 120 

Grits, boiled 120 

Macaroni, boiled 117 

Vegetables. 

Desiccated vegetables 121 

Potatoes, boiled 122 

Potatoes, steamed 123 

Potatoes, baked 123 

Sweet potatoes, boiled 125 

Green corn, boiled 127 

Greens, boiled (some kinds). B.* 128 

Desserts. 

Pie. B.* ,. 139 

Doughnuts. E, M 140 

Snits und Knepp. B, E.* 140 

Fruit cobbler. B 141 

Fruit pudding. B 141 

Cottage pudding. B, E, M 142 

Sauces. 

Tomato sauce. B 117 

Slow. 
{Over 45 minutes.) 
Fresh Meat, Game. 

Roasted meat, big game 53 

Braised meat, big game 55 

Baked meat, big game 55 

Boiled meat, big game 58 



xvi A TABLE. 

Page 

Stewed meat, big game 59 

Steamed meat, big game 60 

Barbecued meat, big game 55 

Kidneys, stewed 66 

Marrow bones, boiled 66 

Moose muffle, boiled 67 

Tongue, boiled 67 

Turkey, goose, roasted 76, 77 

Turkey, boiled 77 

Jambolaya 68 

Brunswick stew. B 68 

Turtle, boiled 90 

Cured Meat. 

Lobscouse 96 

Bacon, salt pork, ham, boiled 93-95 

Cured Fish. 

Salt fish, boiled 97 

Codfish, stewed 97 

Codfish hash 97 

Bread. 

Sour-dough bread 108 

Salt-rising bread 108 

Lungwort bread 109 

Porridge, etc. 

Corn mush 118 

Polenta 119 

Macaroni, with cheese. B 118 

Macaroni, baked. B, M 118 

Vegetables. 

Beans, boiled 125 

Beans, baked 126 

Onions, boiled. B* M* 136 

Green corn, baked 127 

Greens, boiled (some kinds). B* 127 

Soups from raw materials. B* 130 

Desserts. 

Dried fruit, stewed 135 

Jelly from dried fruit 137 

Rice pudding. E* M 141 

Batter pudding. B, E, M 142 

Plum duff 142 

Snow pudding 141 



Camp Cookery 



CHAPTER I. 
PROVISIONS. 

THE knack of camp outfitting consists in 
getting the best kit in the least weight 
and bulk. Wise campers prefer to go 
light, doing without most of the appliances of do- 
mestic life. It follows that camp cookery is an 
art distinct from the cuisine of kitchens. A com- 
mon cook-book is of no use in the woods; for it 
is always calling for things we have not, and does 
not tell what to do with the things we have. 

For example, I am to make a side trip of sev- 
eral days from the main camp. Going alone, and 
without pack horse or canoe, I must cut down my 
equipment to the last practicable ounce. There 
will be neither time nor utensils for baking on the 
way. So I must have bread for the journey, and 
it must be wholesome bread, extra nourishing for 
its bulk, palatable, fit to eat cold, and of a kind 
that will not dry out nor mould. I have no ma- 
terials but flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and 
water. Where shall I find the recipe? Not in a 



2 CAMP COOKERY. 

domestic cook-book. Yet the trick is easy, when 
one knows how. 

Light outfitting, as regards food, is mainly a 
question of how much water we are willing to 
carry in our rations. For instance, canned peaches 
are 88 per cent, water. Can one afford to carry so 
much water from home when there is better water 
at camp ? What, then, is best to substitute for the 
peaches? Let us see. — 

An average can of peaches weighs 2^ lbs. 
Evaporated apples are only 26 per cent, water, 
and sugar has none at all. A pound of the ap- 
ples and a pound of sugar cost three-fourths as 
much as the peaches, weigh a fifth less, are a little 
bulkier, but pack better on the trail. In camp, let 
the apples be stewed soft in plenty of water, and 
used as sauce. There is left a quart of hot juice. 
Into it put the pound of sugar. Boil, without stir- 
ring or skimming, until the juice gets syrupy, and 
pour into a vessel to cool. Result: somewhat more 
than a pint of as good jelly as can be made from 
fresh apples themselves. The sauce and the jelly 
will go much farther than a can of peaches, and 
there is more variety. 

The following table is suggestive: 

More than % Water. 

Fresh milk, fruit, vegetables (except potatoes). 
Canned soups, tomatoes, peaches, pears, etc. 

More than y^ Water. 

Fresh beef, veal, mutton, poultry, eggs, potatoes. 
Canned corn, baked beans, pineapple. 
Evaporated milk (unsweetened). 

More than % Water, 

Fresh bread, rolls, pork chops. 

Potted chicken, etc. 

Cheese. 

Canned blackberries. 



PROVISIONS. $ 

Less than y^ Water. 
Dried apples, apricots, peaches, primes. 
Fruit jelly. 

Less than % Water. 
Salt pork (fat). Dried fish. Butter. 
Desiccated eggs. Concentrated soups. 
Powdered milk. 

Wheat flour, corn meal, etc. Macaroni. 
Rice, oatmeal, hominy, etc. 
Dried beans, split peas. 
Dehydrated vegetables. 
Dried dates, figs, raisins. 
Orange marmalade. Sugar. Chocolate. 
Nuts. Nut butter. 

Although this table is good in its way, it is not 
a fair measure of the relative value of foods. 
Even the solid part of some foodstuffs contains a 
good deal of refuse (fresh potatoes 20 per cent.), 
while others have none. Beans, rice, nuts, cheese, 
are highly concentrated foods, but rice is easy to 
digest, beans rather difficult, nuts more so (unless 
in the form of nut butter), and cheese should be 
used sparingly. Then there is the personal fac- 
tor: "What's one man's meat is another man's 
poison." 

Variety is quite as welcome at the camp board 
as anywhere else — in fact more so, for it is harder 
to get. Do not leave out the few little condi- 
ments wherewith you can vary the taste of com- 
mon articles and serve a new sauce or gravy or 
pudding now and then. Nothing pays better for 
its transportation than good brands of desiccated 
eggs and evaporated or powdered milk. Cooked 
in combination with other things, they add vastly 
to the number and savor of your dishes. 

There is an old school of campers who affect 
to scorn such, things. "We take nothing with us," 
they say, "but pork, flour, baking powder, salt, 



4 CAMP COOKERY. 

sugar, and coffee — our guns and rods furnish us 
variety." This sounds sturdy, but there is a deal 
of humbug in it. A spell of bad weather may de- 
feat the best of hunters and fishermen. Even 
granting that luck is good, the kill is likely to be 
of one kind at a time. With only the six articles 
named, nobody can serve the same game in a va- 
riety of ways. ' >Now, consider a moment. How 
would you like to sit down to nothing but fried 
chicken and biscuit, three times a day? Chicken 
everlastingly fried in pork grease — and, if you 
tire of that, well, eat fried "sow-belly," and sop 
your bread in the grease! It is just the same with 
trout or bass as it is with chicken; the same with 
pheasant or duck, rabbit or squirrel or bear. The 
only kind of wild meat that civilized man can relish 
for three consecutive meals, served in the same 
fashion, is venison of the deer family. Go pre- 
pared to lend variety to your menu. Food that 
palls is bad food — worse in camp than anywhere 
else, for you can't escape to a restaurant. 

Variety of rations does not mean adding to the 
load. It means substituting three 5 lb. parcels for 
one 15 lb. parcel, and no more. 

Let us consider the material of field rations, item 
by item: 

Bread. — It may be well to carry enough yeast 
bread for two or three days. It helps out until 
the game country is reached and camp routine 
is established. Hardtack (pilot bread, ship bis- 
cuit) is a last resort, and can be recommended only 
for such trips or cruises as do not permit baking. 
It is a cracker prepared without salt or grease, and 
kiln-dried to a chip, so as to keep well. He who 
can cat it without grumbling may be said to have 
filed his teeth. 



PROVISIONS. 5 

Flour. — The plain kind is best. The self-rais- 
ing is easily ruined by moisture, and will not do 
for thickening, dredging, etc. 

Corn Meal. — Some like yellow, some prefer 
white. In either case it is much the best when 
freshly ground. A welcome change from hot 
wheat bread or biscuit, and can be served variously 
as johnny cake, pancakes, or mush. Useful to roll 
fish in, before frying. 

Rolled Oats. — This, and other breakfast cereals, 
according to taste, and only for variety sake. Nu- 
tritive value low, in proportion to bulk. 

Rice. — Deserves a higher place as an all-round 
food than our people generally give it. Beats all 
other cereals in sustaining power plus digestibility. 
Can be cooked in many ways, and all of them are 
easy. Combines well with almost anything else, 
and so lends variety. Packs well and keeps well. 

Macaroni. — Nutritious, but bulky. Good in 
soups and stews. Break it into inch pieces and 
pack so that insects cannot get at it. 

Baking Powder. — Get the best, made with pure 
cream of tartar. It costs more than the alum pow- 
ders, and does not go so far, bulk for bulk; but 
it is much kinder to the stomach. Baking soda 
will probably not be wanted, as it requires butter- 
milk in baking, except for sour-dough. Occa- 
sionally needed for other purposes. 

Salt Pork {alias middlings, sides, bellies. Old 
Ned, et al.). — Commendable or accursed, according 
to how it is used. Takes the place of lard and 
butter on very light marching trips. Nothing 
quite equals it in baking beans. Savory in some 
boiled dishes. When fried, as a piece de resistance, 
it successfully resists most people's gastric juices. 



6 CAMP COOKERY. 

and is iiatiseous to many. Purchasable at most 
frontier camps. 

Breakfast Bacon. — Better for most jjurposes 
than salt pork. Seldom obtainable outside of 
towns. Get the boneless, in 5 to 8 lb. flitches. 
That which is sliced and canned is a poor substi- 
tute either in flavor or wholesomeness. 

Smoked Ham.-^SmaW ones generally are tough 
and too salty. Hard to keep in warm or damp 
weather; moulds easily, and is attractive to blow- 
flies. It is best to get both bacon and ham un- 
wrapped, and sew them up in cheesecloth yourself ; 
theii you are sure they were not mouldy to start 
with. 

Dried Beef. — Cuts from large hams are best. 
Of limited use in pick-up meals. A notori- 
ous thirst-breeder. Not comparable to "jerked" 
beef, which, unfortunately, is not in the market.* 

Canned Meats and Poultry of all descriptions 
are quite unfit for steady diet. Devilled or potted 
ham, chicken, tongue, sausage, and the like, are 
endurable at picnics, and valuable in emergencies, 
as when a hard storm makes outdoor cooking im- 
possible. Canned corned beef makes a passable 
hash. 

Extract of Beef. — Liebig's is useful in adding 
flavor to gravy or soup, and may be needed in 
case of illness. 

Canned Fish. — -Not so objectionable as canned 
tneat, because preserved in oil. Salmon, sardines, 
mackerel, can be worked into palatable dishes for 
hasty meals now and then. Go light. 



*For the process of jerking venison or beef, see my 
Camping and Woodcraft, p. 222. I have found that it 
succeeds even in the wet climate of the Southern Ap- 
palachians. (See also page 45.) 



PROVISIONS. 7 

Smoked Fish. — Shredded codfish, for fish-balls, 
and smoked halibut, sprats, boneless herring, are 
portable and keep well. Enough for one or two 
meals of each may be relished. 

Prepared Soups,- — If liquid soups can be carried 
at all, take none but the very best brands that you 
can purchase. Concentrated (dry) soups, when 
of good quality, are a great help in time of trouble. 
Choose by trying samples before you leave home. 
They are kept by some camp outfitters, and by se- 
lect groceries in the large cities. Erbswurst (a sort 
of pea-meal sausage used in the German army) 
is a pretty good emergency ration to carry when 
you hunt alone. Any good camp outfitter has it in 
stock or will order it for you. 

Desiccated Eggs. — Baker's egg is a perfect 
substitute for fresh eggs in bake stuffs, and makes 
excellent omelets or scrambled eggs. A 1 lb. 
can, equal to about four dozen fresh eggs, meas- 
ures 6x3x3 inches. It costs less than storage 
eggs, and the contents will never spoil if kept dry. 
The powder must soak about an hour in cold or 
lukewarm water before Using. It may be put to 
soak overnight, or in a can or bottle of water when 
on the march. Thanks to this invention, the camp 
flapjack need no longer be a culinary horror. 

I have tried other desiccated eggs, "made in 
Germany," which Were uneatable by themselves, 
nor did they improve any dish that I tested them 
in.* 



*0n general principles I object to naming firms or 
brands; but when a good thing is not generally pro- 
curable in average stores, there would be no use in men- 
tioning it without telling the reader where to get it. 
Out-of-town readers should get such catalogues as those 
of Montgomery Ward, Chicago; John Wanamaker, New 
York; Abercrombie & Fitch, New York. 



8 CAMP COOKERY. 

Butter. — For ordinary trips it suffices to pack 
butter firmly into pry-up tin cans which have been 
sterilized by thorough scalding and then cooled in 
a perfectly clean place. Keep it in a spring or in 
cold running water (hung in a net^ or weighted 
with a rock) whenever you can. When traveling, 
wrap the cold can in a towel or other insulating 
material. 

Butter will keep fresh a long time if melted 
and gently boiled for a while, skimming off the 
scum as it rises, until the butter is as clear as 
oil, and then canning it. One-third less of this 
clarified butter equals the quantity of ordinary 
butter called for in any recipe. 

Nut butter may be used as a substitute on 
bread. 

Cheese. — According to taste, and only for occa- 
sional use. A small bottle of grated Parmesan 
for macaroni, etc. 

Lard. — The amount will depend upon whether 
you use much lard in baking, and whether you fry 
with it or with bacon grease, oil, or butter. Olive 
oil is superior as a friture, especially for fish, but 
more expensive and more bothersome to carry. 

Milk. — Sweetened condensed milk (the "salve" 
of the lumber jacks) is an abomination. The dif- 
ferent brands of plain evaporated milk vary much 
in quality. Choose by actual test. The five cent 
cans are most convenient. 

Two varieties of powdered milk (skimmed and 
whole, respectively) may be procured. The kind 
called "Trucream" makes four quarts of rich milk 
to the pound, by dissolving in water. 

Potatoes. — If you can carry fresh ones, choose 
those with small eyes and of uniform medium size, 
pyen if you have to buy a bushel to sort out 9 peck. 



PROVISIONS. 9 

Rice and grits are good substitutes when going 
light. 

Onions. — A few fresh ones can be carried any- 
where. Almost indispensable for seasoning soups, 
stews, etc. 

Carrots. — A few of these, also, for soups and 
stews, if transportation permits. 

Dehydrated (desiccated) Vegetables. — To my 
taste they are "rather poor fodder." On hard trips 
I prefer rice, grits, beans, and split peas. 

Beans. — A prime factor in cold weather camp- 
ing. Take a long time to cook ("soak all day and 
cook all night" is the rule). Cannot be cooked done 
at altitudes of five thousand feet and upward:^ 
Large varieties cook quickest, but the small white 
navy beans are best for baking. Pick them over 
before packing, as there is much waste. 

Split Peas. — Used chiefly in making a thick, 
nourishing soup. 

Canned Vegetables. — Very heavy and bulky for 
their fighting value. Very toothsome in the woods. 
Tomatoes are a good corrective of a meat diet. 
A few cans of baked beans (without tomato sauce) 
will be handy in bad weather. The three-quarter 
pound cans are convenient for emergency rations. 

Canned Fruit. — Blackberries and pineapple go 
farthest. Cranberries for the bird season. Others 
are too watery. 

Preserved Fruit. — The commissaries of the 
British army were wise when they gave jam an 
honorable place in Tommy Atkins' field ration. 
Yes: jam for soldiers in time of war. So many 
ounces of it, substituted, mind you, for so many 
ounces of the porky, porky, porky, that has ne'er 
a streak of lean." So, a little currant jelly with 



10 CAMP COOKERY. 

your duck or venison is worth breaking all rules 
for. Orange marmalade goes far. Such conserves 
can be repacked by the buyer in pry-up cans that 
have been sterilized as recommended under the 
heading Butter. 

Evaporated Fruit. — Dried apples and apricots 
are best, owing to their tartness. Prunes are 
rather bulky. Raisins go far, and are useful in 
puddings. Dates help out an emergency ration, 
and so do figs, which also are very good stewed or 
in pudding. 

Nuts. — Shelled nuts pay well for their trans- 
portation. Peanut butter is more easily digested, 
and makes a good emergency food. 

Sugar. — Granulated. Take plenty, especially if 
you are short of other sweets. Men in the open 
soon get to craving sweets, because sugar is stored- 
up energy. 

The ''substitute" variously known as saccharin, 
saxin, crystallose, is no substitute at all, save in 
mere sweetening power, and even this has been 
grossly exaggerated. The catalogues say "one 
ounce equals in sweetening power one ton of su- 
gar." The real ratio is one ounce to eighteen 
pounds of sugar. This drug, which is derived 
from coal tar, has decided medicinal qualities and 
injures normal health if persistently taken. It 
has none of the nutritive value of sugar. 

Syrup. — A capital addition to pancakes, fried 
mush, etc. Useful in cookery (baked beans, cakes, 
etc.). Most maple syrup is adulterated. Be sure 
of your brands. 

Coffee. — The best coffee can only be made from 
freshly roasted berries. Have it roasted and 
ground the day before you start, and put up in 



PROVISIONS. 11 

air-tight canisters. Take plenty; it will lose 
strength rapidly in the moist air of the woods. 

Tea, — A much better pick-me-up than coffee or 
liquor, and more portable. English Breakfast 
suits most tastes. 

Chocolate. — Very sustaining, as well as a good 
beverage. A quarter-pound cake carried in the 
pocket will pull a man through a hard day's wan- 
dering. 

Acids. — The best way to carry vinegar is in one 
of the stone "pottles" that Holland gin comes 
in. If you carry pickles, let them be sour ones. 
Lemons are almost essential for hot- weather trips. 
A fair substitute is citric acid in crystals (any 
drugstore). 

Condiments. — Salt is best carried in a wooden 
box. The amount used in cooking and at table 
is small, but if pelts are to be preserved or game 
shipped out, considerably more will be needed. 

White pepper is better than black. Some cay- 
enne or chili should also be taken. 

Worcestershire sauce and tomato catchup (if 
genuine) are worth carrying when practicable; 
also mustard. 

Pressed sage for stuffings, celery seed for soups, 
nutmeg and cloves (whole), perhaps ginger, cin- 
namon, and curry powder, wil-l be needed. 

Finally, a half pint of brandy, religiously re- 
served for brandy sauce, is worth its weight. 

^ A ration list showing how much food of each 
kind is required, per man and per week, cannot be 
figured out satisfactorily unless one knows where 
the party is going, at what season of the year, how 
the stuff is to be carried, whether there is to be 
good chance of game or fish, and something about 



r^ CAMP COOKERY. 

the men's personal tastes. However, the follow- 
ing table, based upon my own experience and al- 
lowing for many contingencies, may at least be 
useful as showing how to go about it. 

The table gives four distinct estimates of food 
required by four men in two weeks, graded ac- 
cording as they travel light or heavy, in warm 
weather or in cold. The quantities will suffice 
without counting on game or fish. The difference 
between "light" and "heavy" is chiefly due to 
fresh potatoes and canned goods. 

It will be noticed that the cold-weather ration 
that I give is more liberal than that for warm 
weather, and that the addition is mostly in fatty 
and oily foods. A man who eats little fat meat 
when living in the city will find that when he 
travels hard in cold weather and sleeps in the open 
air his system will demand more fatty food. The 
experience of travelers in the far North bears out 
the results of scientific analysis, that foods con- 
taining fats and oils are more nutritious and heat- 
producing than any others. But a steady diet of 
bread and bacon is likely to breed scurvy; so a 
supply of vegetables and fruits should be added. 
Men living in the open also develop a craving for 
sweets that is out of all proportion to what they 
experience in town. This is a normal demand, 
for sugar is stored-up energy. I have allowed 
liberally for this, and also for the increased con- 
sumption of coffee and tea that is the rule (owing 
somewhat to the fact that they lose strength from 
exposure to the air). 

The table is chiefly valuable as showing the 
proper ratios of the meat, the bread, and the veg- 
etable and fruit components. Under each of these 
headings the items can be varied a great deal, ac- 



PROVISIONS. 



13 



cording to taste, but the aggregate of each com- 
ponent should be about as stated. 

RATION LISTS, FOUR MEN, TWO WEEKS. 
(56 RATIONS.) 

LIGHT. HE A VY. 

Meats, etc. Summer. Winter. Summer. Winter. 

Salt pork 10 lbs. 10 lbs. 

Bacon 12 lbs. 13 10 lbs. 10 

Ham 5 5 5 5 

Dried beef or fish.. 3 3 3 3 

Canned meats 4 4 

Canned fish 4 4 

Beef extract y. V2 V2 V2 

Concentrated soups. 3 2 9 3 

Desiccated eggs 3 2 2 2 

Butter 6 6 6 6 

Cheese 2 2 

Lard 3 3 3 3 

Powdered milk .... Sy^ 3 14 
or Evaporated (38 

smaU cans) 13^2 131/2 

Lbs 37 47 54 64 

LIGHT. HE A VY. 

Bread, etc. . Summer. Winter. Summer. Winter. 

Fresh bread 5 lbs. 5 lbs. 

Wheat flour 34 lbs. 34 lbs. 30 30 

Corn meal 5 10 5 10 

Rice 5 5 5 5 

Rolled oats 3 3 2 2 

Grits 2 3 2 2 

Macaroni 1 1 1 1 

Baking powder IVs IV3 1 1 

Lbs 40ya 451/3 41 46 

Vegetables. 
Potatoes (fresh).... 30 (^ bu.) 30 
Onions (fresh) .... 5 5 5 5 
Carrots (fresh) .... 5 5 
Tomatoes (canned). 10 (4 cans) 10 
Dehydrated vege- 
tables 4 4 

Beans 4 6 4 6 

Split peas 2 3 3 2 

Canned baked beans. 3 3 3 3 

Lbs 18 30 59 61 



14 CAMP COOKERY. 

Beverages. 

Coffee (roasted, 

ground) 4 4 4 4 

Tea 1 1 1 1 

Chocolate (unsweet- 
ened) 1 1 1 1 

Lbs 6 6 6 6 

LIGHT. HEAVY. 

Sweets. Summer. Winter. Summer. Winter. 

Sugar (granulated) . 8 10 5 5 

Syrup 3(iqt.) 6 

Jelly, jam, marma- 
lade 5 5 

Lbs 8 10 13 16 

Acids. 

Vinegar 1 <?»"*> 1 

Pickles 3 2 

Lemons 4 (2 doz.) 

Citric acid (c. p., 

cryst.) 1/4 ¥4 __ ___ 

Lbs Vi 1/4 T 3 

Fruits, etc. 

Evaporated apples, 

apricots 3 3 3 3 

Raisins, dates, figs.. 2 2 2 2 

Canned blackberries, 
cranberries, pine- 
apple 24 (12 cans) 24 

Shelled nuts, or nut 
butter 2 2 2 2 

Lbs 7 7 31 31 



PROVISIONS. 



15 



Condiments. 

Salt (if allowing for 

curing skins, etc., 

take 10 lbs.) 2 2 3 3 

Pepper (white) .... 1 oz. 1 oz. 1 oz. 1 oz. 

Cayenne or chili... 1 oz. 1 oz. 1 oz. 1 oz. 

Worcestershire sauce. 1 bot. 1 bot. 

Olive oil 1 bot. 1 bot. 

Tomato catchup 1 bot. 1 bot. 

Brandy % pint. i/g pint. 

Mustard 1 bot. 1 bot. 

Sage, celery seed, 

nutmeg, cloves, 

cinnamon, ginger, 

curry powder . . . x x x x 

Lbs 214 21/4 6 6 

LIGHT. HEAVY. 

Summer. Winter. Summer. Winter. 

Total lbs 119 138 317 233 

Per m-an, per 

day 31/8 21/2 37/8 41/8 



Meat of any kind will quickly mould or spoil 
if packed in tins from which air is not exhausted. 
Put pork^ bacon_, or ham in loose cheesecloth bags 
that can be hung up in camp, and pack them in 
parchment paper for transit ; so also cheese. Flour, 
meal, cereals, vegetables, and dried fruits go in 
stout bags. Ordinary flour sacks are too weak, 
and wet through too easily. Salt, as it draws 
moisture, is best carried in a wooden box or screwr 
top wooden mailing tubes ; butter, coffee, tea, su- 
gar, jam, etc., in pry-up tin cans. Camp outfitters 
supply small bags and tins of various sizes that 
stow in waterproof provision bags, and it saves 
trouble to buy them ready-made. Label every- 
thing plainly. 

One of the handiest things in a camper's kit is 
surgeon's rubber adhesive plaster. This can be 
purchased at any drugstore. A ten-yard spool 



•^ 16 CAMP COOKERY. 



each of the one-inch and two-inch widths will 
be useful in a hundred ways. This plaster is 
waterproof and air-tight. It will stick to any dry 
surface (wood, metal, glass, cloth, leather, or 
skin), and will stay there until purposely re- 
moved; yet it can be peeled off and reapplied 
many times. As an instantaneous mender of 
rents and stopper of holes or cracks it has no 
equal. 

One of the most bothersome things in shifting 
camp is to secure opened cans and bottles from 
spilling. Surgeon's plaster does the trick in a 
twinkling. Put a little square of it over each 
hole in the milk can that you opened for break- 
fast, and there will be no leakage. To hold a 
cork in a bottle, stick a narrow strip of the plaster 
over the cork and down opposite sides of the bot- 
tle's neck. To protect the bottle from breaking, 
run a strip around it at top and one at bottom. 

The caps of baking powder cans or similar 
tins can be secured to the bodies in the same way. 
With a broad strip you can seal a box or chest 
water-tight, stop a leak in a canoe, or mend a 
broken rod, a paddle, a gunstock, or even an axe- 
handle (first nailing it). A chest or cupboard can 
be extemporized from any packing box, in a jiffy, 
by cleating the top and using surgeon's plaster for 
hinges. 

Camp chests are very convenient when it is 
practicable to carry them; but they should be 
small, weighing not over fifty or sixty pounds each 
when packed, so that one man can easily handle 
them unassisted. If they are specially made, Cot- 
tonwood is the best material (if thoroughly sea- 
soned boards can be had — otherwise it warps 
abominably). It is the strongest and toughest 



PROVISIONS. 17 

wood for its weight that we have, and will not 
splinter. For the ends and lids of small chests, 
^-inch stuff is thick enough, and ^-inch for the 
sides, bottoms, and trays. The bottom should have 
a pair of ^-inch cleats for risers and the top a 
similar jDair to keep it from warping, unless the 
chests are to go on pack animals. Strap-hinges 
and hasp, a brass padlock and broad leather end- 
straps (not drop-handles) should be provided, and 
the chest painted. 

The best size is 24x18x9 inches, this being con- 
venient for canoes and pack-saddles. A pine gro- 
cery box of this size, with %-inch ends and 
^-inch sides, top, and bottom, weighs only 10 
pounds, and will answer the purpose very well. 
Screw a wooden handle on each end, say 5x2 
inches, with a hand-hold gouged out of the un- 
der side. 

Check off every article in the outfit as it is 
stowed, and keep the inventory for future refer- 
ence. Then note what is left over at the end of 
the trip. This will help in outfitting for the next 
season. 



CHAPTER IL 
UTENSILS. 

A PARTY going into fixed camp, within 
wagon call of the railroad, can carry a 
sheet-steel stove. A good pattern is the 
Klondike stove shown in the illustration. Its best 
feature is the size of the fire-box, which takes in 
wood twenty-eight inches long and thick enough 
to keep an all-night fire, the stove being closed air- 
tight. The top of the Klondike, 14x30 inches, is 
free for utensils; the oven, above it, takes a 10x14 
pan for baking or roasting. Oven, legs, and pipe 
stow inside the body of the stove, leaving space 
for a 12xl3x9%-inch galvanized box that holds 
cooking utensils for four persons and can be used 
in camp as a dish-pan or as a vermin-proof box 
for provisions. When packed for transportation, 
the stove measures 30x11x12 inches, and weighs 
29 pounds (complete with box and utensils, 43^ 
pounds). 

In rough country, especially if camp is to be 
shifted frequently, a stove is out of the reckoning. 
If pack animals are taken, or the trip is by canoe, 
without long and difficult j^ortages, it pays to take 
along either a folding grate or a pair of fire irons. 
Various patterns of grates are shown in outfitters' 
catalogues. I have used one called the Gem 
which is satisfactory of its kind. It weighs 334 
pounds, is 16x28 inches when set up, and folds 
into a package 1^x19 inches. 

18 



UTENSILS. 



19 



A lighter grate is Sackett's camp broiler, 9x14 
inches. The legs do not lock in place, and hence 
are of little use on stony or mushy ground. I re- 
move them, and so have a good grate and broiler 
weighing only one pound, yet big enough to sup- 
port a frying pan and coffee pot when laid across 
a couple of logs or rocks. 




Klondike Camp Stove. 

Fire "irons" are simply two pieces of flat steel 
24x1 ^x^ inches, weighing 2^/2 pounds, which 
are used like the broiler named above. If a 
mule steps on one of them, it (mule or iron) can 
quickly be hammered back into correct form. 

On light marching trips no support for the uten- 
sils will be carried. Rocks or logs will take their 



20 



CAMP COOKERY. 



place. There may be a little more spilling and 
swearing, but less tired backs. 

It is commonly agreed that four is the ideal 
number for a camping party, at least among hunt- 
ers and fishermen. Certainly no larger number 
should attempt their own cooking. Utensils and 
table ware for such a party, going light, should 
include: a large frying-pan (more serviceable than 
two small ones) ; a pan to mix dough in and wash 
dishes (common milk pan) ; a stout, seamless, cov- 
ered pot for boiling or stewing meat, baking beans. 




Sackett's Broiler. 
etc.; a medium pot or pail for hot water (always 
wanted, substitute for tea kettle) ; a smaller one 
for cereals, vegetables, fruit ; and either a coffee pot 
low enough to nest in the latter, or a covered pail 
in its place. There should be six plates (two for 
serving) and four each of cups, knives, forks, 
teaspoons, tablespoons. This is about as little as 
the party can well get along with. 

It will be bothersome to bake bread for four in 
the frying-pan. Add a reflector or common sheet- 



UTENSILS. 



«1 



steel "roaster and baker/' if practicable. A wire 
broiler, a tea percolator, and a corkscrew and can 
opener will nest with this set. If the cook wears 
no sheath knife a butcher knife is essential. Two 
dish towels (one to be divided into clouts) and 
a couple of yards of cheesecloth for straining and 
to hang meat in should be taken. 

The common utensils of the shops will not nest. 
They are all spouts and handles, bail ears and 
cover knobs. Still, a good deal can be done by 
substitution. Covered pails do all the work of 
sauce pans and kettles, and are better all round, 
for they can either be set upon the coals or hung 
above the fire; besides, you can carry water in 





Gem Folding Grate. 

them, and their covers keep heat in and ashes 
out. All such vessels should be low and broad; 
then they will boil quickly and pack well. Good 
proportions are: 

3 quarts diameter 63^ in. x 514 in. height. 

' " " 71/, " X534 - 



81/0 " xGVg " 
91/4 " X 71/2 « 



CAMP COOKERY. 



Bail ears should project as little as possible. 
Lids should have fold-down rings instead of knobs. 
If the bails interfere with nesting, substitute light 
chains. 

Ordinary coffee pots are too tall and slender. 
The best form is what is known as a coffee 
boiler (see illustration), which nests inside a com- 
paratively small pail, boils quickly, has a bail, 



um^ 




CooKiKG Kit for Six. 
Nesting in space 11x12% inches, and weighing I714 lbs. 

and is fitted with a solid spout that will not melt 
off. A similar article of tin is known as a "miner's 
coffee pot." When compact nesting is aimed at, 
discard the coffee pot in favor of a lidded pail. 
It has the advantage that no aroma escapes 
through a spout. Use a percolator of aluminum 
(cylindrical, not egg-shaped) that is large enough 
for both coffee and tea, and remove its wings. 

Tin cups that nest inside the coffee pot have 
the lower part of the handle free. Get the IjE^- 
pint size (5x2^ in.). Small cups and small plates 
are a nuisance in camp. Tin is not nice to drink 
hot fluids from: it makes tea "taste." Alumi- 
num is worse, for it blisters the unwary mouth. I 



UTENSILS. 29 

carry my own cup at my belt or in my pouch, for 
it is wanted ten times a day. It is of white enam- 
eled ware. If every man does this, there will be 
no trouble about cups nesting. 

Plates, too, should be of enameled ware, for it 
is so much easier to clean than tin or aluminum. 
Let them be deep and generous (9^-inch soup 
plates, nesting in the frying pan). 

The frying-pan handle is a perennial problem. 
The best form of detachable handle that I know 
of is Darling's. A stick can be inserted in it, for 
long-distance frying, by those who do not know 
that frying should never be done over a fierce fire, 
nor that a few coals raked to one side do the trick. 

Few camp cooking kits include a baker, al- 
though it is almost essential for comfortable life 
in the woods. The most portable form is the fold- 
ing reflector sold by most outfitters. It is similar 
to those that our great-grandmothers used to bake 
biscuit in, before a hearth fire. The top slants 
like a shed roof, and the bottom like another shed 
roof turned upside down, the bread pan being in 
the middle. The slanting top and bottom reflect 
heat downward upon the top of the baking and 
upward against its bottom, so that bread, for in- 
stance, bakes evenly all around. 

A prime advantage of this cunning utensil is 
that baking can proceed immediately when the fire 
is kindled, without waiting for the wood to burn 
down to coals, and without danger of burning the 
dough. Fish, flesh, and fowl can be roasted to a 
turn in this contrivance. It has several better 
points than an oven, chief of which is its porta- 
bility, as it folds flat; but it is inferior for corn 
bread, army bread, etc., and impossible for pot- 
yoasts or braising. 



24» CAMP COOKERY. 

The best size of reflector for two men is 12x 
12x8 inches, the pan of which holds just a dozen 
biscuits. For four men, a good size is 16x18x8. 
These sizes are the height, width, and depth, re- 
spectively, when the oven is open for use. When 
folded it is only about an inch thick. The 8x12 
size weighs 2 pounds, with bake pan; the 8x18 
size, 2^ pounds. A canvas carrying case, which 
is needed, for the baker is frail, adds another 
pound. A wire broiler packs inside the reflector; 
it is not necessary for broiling meat, but it is 
handy for the purpose, and especially for broiling 
fish. 

The old-fashioned Dutch oven of cast iron is 
too heavy for any but wagon parties, and by them 
is usually discarded for a camp stove. 

A much cheaper utensil than the reflector, and 
one that can be used like a Dutch oven, with coals 
underneath and on top, is the sheet-steel baker or 
roaster designed for use in stove ovens. With the 
two sections nesting, it is quite portable. The 
15x10x7 size weighs, with bake pan, about 414 
pounds. 

A good-sized water pail is a great convenience 
in camp. The best form of all is a galvanized pail 
with bail ears set below the rim and a tight cover 
fitting outside the top. It is strong enough to go 
on a pack saddle, and is an excellent container for 
perishables. In a canoe it is much handier and 
more reliable than the japanned bread box so 
often used as a provision chest. With a broad 
strip of surgeon's plaster around the rim it is per- 
fectly water-tight and the cover cannot come off. 
Don't be bluffed by its name: it is called a gar- 
bage can. 

Men who have neither time nor inclination to 



UTENSILS. 



25 











1. Coffee Boiler. 

2. Miner's Coffee Pot. 

3. Percolator. 

4. Miner's Cup. 



5. Baker. 

6. Water Bucket, 

7. Reflector. 

8. Frying Pan. 



26 CAMP COOKERY. 

rummage the stores for "calamities" that will nest 
would do well to pay extra for outfits already 
kitted by camp outfitters. Using one outfitter's 
sets for illustration, we are offered: 

Set for. Size, nested. In "Armorsteel." In"Aluminol." 

Two persons ... 9^^ x 8% in. 6% lbs. $4.00 6% lbs. $9.85 
Four persons ...10 xlliiin. 12 lbs. 6.25 10"% lbs. 16.60 

Six persons 11 x 12^8 in. 17 1/2 lbs. 8.50 17 14 lbs. 26.50 

Eight persons . .11 x 12 78 in. 19 1^ lbs. 9.40 18% lbs. 30.00 

In the four-men and eight-men sets the coffee 
pots will be found rather stingy. An 8x18 fold- 
ing reflector, broiler, canvas case, butcher knife, 
cooking spoon, and percolator would add exactly 
4 pounds weight and $6.40 to the price. 

"Aluminol" is an aluminum alloy that is tougher 
and more durable than the common aluminum of 
the shops. The latter is too soft and too easily 
bent or dented, and it Mdll not stand dry heat. 
Aluminum frying pans are worthless: food sticks 
to them and burns. 

"Armorsteel" utensils are made from strong 
steel stamped in one solid piece, and doubly 
tinned. 

Ordinary tinware is much lighter and cheaper 
than either of these, but here its merits end. It 
will not stand rough handling*, rusts easily, is hard 
to clean when greasy, and its soldered joints are 
always treacherous. 

Enameled ware is the easiest of all to keep 
clean. It is the best material to cook fruit in. Its 
tendency to chip and flake in cold weather can 
be tamed by warming gradually, at such times, be- 
fore exposing to fierce heat. It is not much heav- 
ier than any other ware that is strong enough for 
outdoor service. 

]\Ien who must travel with very light equip- 



UTENSILS. 27 

ment should cut out all but the absolutely essential 
utensils, and have them strong enough for hard 
service. Ideal outfitting is to have what we 
want, when we want it, and never to be bothered 
with anything else. 



CHAPTER III. 
FIRES. 

THE success of outdoor cookery depends 
largely upon how the fire is built and how 
it is managed. A camper is known by his 
fire. It is quite impossible to prepare a good meal 
over a higgledy-piggledy heap of smoking chunks, 
a fierce blaze, or a great bed of coals that will 
warp iron and melt everything else. 

For a noonday lunch, or any other quick meal, 
when you have only to boil coffee and fry some- 
thing, a large fire is not wanted. Drive a forked 
stake in the ground, lay a green stick across it, 
slanting upward from the ground, and weight the 
lower end with a rock or peg it down with an 
inverted crotch. The slanting stick should have 
the stub of a twig left at its upper end to hold 
the pot bail in place, and should be set at such 
an angle that the pot swings about two feet clear 
of the ground. 

Then gather a small armful of sound, dry 
twigs from the size of a lead pencil to that of 
your finger. Take no twig that lies flat on the 
ground, for such are generally damp or rotten. 
Choose hardwood, if there is any, for it lasts well. 

Select three of your best sticks for kindling. 
Shave each of them almost through, for half its 
length, leaving lower end of shavings attached to 
the stick, one under the other. Stand these in a 

28 



FIRES. 29 

tripod, under the hanging pot, with their curls 
down. Around them build a conical wigwam of 
the other sticks, standing each on end and slant- 
ing to a common center. Leave free air spaces be- 
tween the sticks. Fire requires air, and plenty 
of it, and it burns best when it has something to 
climb up on; hence the wigwam construction. 
Now touch off the shaved sticks, and in a mo- 
ment you will have a small blast furnace under 
the pot. This will get up steam in a hurry. 

Meantime get two bed-sticks, five or six inches 
thick, to support the frying pan. The firewood 
will all drop to embers soon after the pot boils. 
Toss out the smoking butts, leaving only clear, 
glowing coals. Put your bed-sticks on either side, 
parallel and level. Set the pan on them, and fry 
away. So, in fifteen or twenty minutes from the 
time you drove your stake, the meal will be 
cooked. 

A man acting without system or forethought, 
in even so simple a matter as this, can waste 
an hour in pottering over smoky mulch, or blister- 
ing himself before a bonfire, and it will be an ill 
mess of half-burned stuff that he serves in the 
end. 

When making a "one-night stand," start a small 
cooking fire the moment you stop for camping and 
put your kettle on. Then you will have coals and 
boiling water ready when you begin cooking, and 
the rest is easy. 

For baking in a reflector, or roasting a joint, 
a high fire is best, with a backing to throw the heat 
forward. Sticks three feet long can be leaned 
against a big log or a sheer-faced rock, and the 
kindling started under them. 

Often a good bed of coals is wanted. The 



30 CAMP COOKERY. 

camp-fire generally supplies these, but sometimes 
they are needed in a hurry, soon after camp is 
pitched. To get them, take sound hardwood, 
either green or dead, and split it into sticks of 
uniform thickness (say lj4-irich face). Lay down 
two bed-sticks, cross these near the ends with two 
others, and so on up until you have a pen a foot 
high. Start a fire in this pen. Then cover it with 
a Yayev of parallel sticks laid an inch apart. Cross 
this with a similar layer at right angles, and so 
upward for another foot. The free draft will 
ma,ke a roaring fire, and all will burn down to 
coals together. The thick bark of hemlock, and 
of hardwoods generally, will soon yield coals for 
ordinary cooking. 

To keep coals a long time, cover them with 
ashes, or with bark which will soon burn to ashes. 
In wet weather a bed of coals can be shielded by 
slanting broad strips of green bark over it and 
overlapping them at the edges. In windy weather 
build your fire in a trench. 

Camp-fires, as distinguished from cooking-fires, 
are usually built by laying down two short, thick 
logs five or six feet apart, for bed-sticks, crossing 
these with two parallel logs about a foot apart, 
and firing with small poles between them. Such a 
fire is generally too hot for good cooking, and it 
blazes or smokes too much. Cook in front of it, 
or to one side, with coals raked from under the 
forestick. . . 

When staying several days in one place, build 
a separate cooking-fire. It saves trouble in the 
end. On a level spot near the camp-fire set up 
two 'stout forked stakes about five feet apart and 
four feet to the crotches. Across them lay a green 
stick (lug-pole) somewhat thicker than a broom- 



FIRES. 31 

stick. Now cut three or four green crotches from 
branches, drive a nail in the small end of each, 
invert the crotches, and hang them on the lug- 
pole to suspend kettles from. These pot-hooks 
are to be of different lengths so that the kettle can 
be adjusted to different heights above the fire, 
first for hard boiling, and then for simmering. If 
kettles were hung from the lug-pole itself, this 
adjustment could not be made, and you would 
have to dismount the whole business in order to 
get one kettle off. 

Then get two tliick, flat rocks and bed them 
under the lug-pole to support your fire-irons or 
the frying pan itself. A pair of green logs will 
do if there are no rocks handy. 

There is much in knowing how to select fuel. 
As a rule, hardwoods make good, slow-burning 
fuel that produces lasting coals, while softwoods 
make a quick, hot fire that soon dies to useless 
ashes. 

The following , woods will scarcely burn at all 
when they are green: asjDen (large-toothed), black 
ash, balsam, box elder, buckeye, hemlock, pitch 
pine, sassafras, sourwood, sycamore, tamarack, 
tupelo (sour gum), water oak, poplar (tulip), and 
service berry. Butternut, chestnut, red oak, red 
maple, and persimmon burn very slowly in a green 
state. Such woods are good for backlogs, hand- 
junks, or andirons, and for side-logs in a cooking- 
fire that is to be used continuously. Yellow birch 
and white ash, on the contrary, are better for a 
camp-fire when green than when they are sea- 
soned. It may be said, in general, that green 
wood burns best in winter, when the sap is down. 
Trees that grow on high, dry ground burn better 
than those of the same species that stand in moist 



32 CAMP COOKERY. 

soil. Chestnut cut on the summits of the southern 
Appalachians burns freely^ even when green, and 
the mountain beech burns as ardently as birch. 

Arbor-vitae (Northern "white cedar") and chest- 
nut burn to dead coals that do not communicate 
flame. They, as well as box elder, red cedar, 
hemlock, sassafras, tulip, balsam, tamarack, and 
spruce, make a great crackling and snapping in the 
fire. All of the soft pines, too, are prone to pop. 
Certain hardwoods, such as sugar maple, beech, 
white oak, and sometimes hickory, must be watched 
for a time after the fire is started, because the- 
embers that they shoot out are long-lived, and 
hence more dangerous than those of softwoods; 
but they are splendid fuel, for all that. 

The following woods are very hard to split: 
Blue ash, box elder, buckeye, cherry, white elm, 
winged elm, sour gum, hemlock (generally), 
liquidambar (sweet gum), honey locust, sugar ma- 
ple, sycamore, tupelo. Some woods, however, that 
are stubborn when seasoned are readily split 
when green, such as hickory, beech, dogwood, su- 
gar maple, birch, and slippery elm. 

Firewoods that split easily are: Hackberry, 
red oak, basket oak, white oak, ash, and white 
birch. 

Best of all Northern firewoods is hickory, green 
or dry. It makes a hot fire, but lasts a long 
time, burning down to a bed of hard coals that 
keep up an even, generous heat for hours. Hick- 
ory, by the way, is distinctly an American tree; 
no other region on earth produces it. The live 
oak of the South is most excellent fuel. Follow- 
ing the hickory, in fuel value, are the chestnut 
oak, overcup, post and basket oaks, pecan, the 
hornbeams (ironwoods), and dogwood. The lat- 



FIRES. ;ss 

ter burns finally to a beautiful white ash that is 
characteristic; apple wood does the same. Black 
birch also ranks here; it has the advantage of 
"doing its own blowing/' as a Carolina moun- 
taineer said to me_, meaning that the oil in the 
birch assists its combustion so that the wood 
needs no coaxing. All of the birches are good 
fuel^ ranking in about this order: black_, yellow, 
red^ paper, and white. Sugar maple was the fa- 
vorite fuel of our old-time hunters and surveyors, 
because it ignites easily, burns with a clear, steady 
flame, and leaves good coals. 

Locust is a good, lasting fuel; it is easy to cut, 
and, when green, splits fairly well; the thick 
bark takes fire readily, and the wood then burns 
slowly, with little flame, leaving pretty good coals ; 
hence it is good for night- wood. Mulberry has 
similar qualities. The best of the oaks for fuel, 
especially when green, is white oak; it also splits 
very readily. The scarlet and willow oaks are 
among the poorest of the hardwoods for fuel. 
Cherry makes only fair fuel. White elm is poor 
stuff, but slippery elm is better. 

In some respects white ash is the best of green 
woods for campers' fuel. It is easily cut and 
split, is lighter to tote than most other hard- 
woods, and is of so dry a nature that even the 
green wood catches fire readily. It burns with 
clear flame, and lasts longer than any other free- 
burning wood of its weight. 

Most of the softwoods are good only for kin- 
dling, or for quick cooking-fires. Liquidambar, 
magnolia, poplar (tulip), catalpa, red cedar, and 
willow are poor fuel. Seasoned chestnut and pop- 
lar make a hot fire, but crackle and leave no 
coals. Balsam fir, basswood, and the white and 



S4 CAMP COOKERY. 

loblolly pines make quick fires but are soon spent. 
The gray (Labrador) j^ine is considered good fuel 
in the far North, where hardwoods are scarce. 
Seasoned tamarack is fairly good. Spruce is poor 
fuel, although, being resinous, it kindles easily and 
makes a good blaze for "branding up" a fire. 
Pitch pine, which is the most inflammable of all 
woods when dry and "fat," will scarcely burn 
at all in a green state. Sycamore and buckeye, 
when thoroughly seasoned, are good fuel, but will 
not split. Alder burns readily and gives out con- 
siderable heat, but is not lasting. The wood of 
the large-toothed aspen will not burn when green, 
yet when dry it burns freely, does not crackle, 
lasts well, and leaves good coals. The best green 
softwoods for fuel are white birch, paper birch, 
soft maple, cottonwood, and quaking aspen. 

As a rule, the timber growing along the mar- 
gins of large streams is softwood. Hence drift- 
wood is generally a poor mainstay, unless there 
is plenty of it on the spot. 

The best kindling is fat pine, or the bark of the 
paper birch. Fat pine is found in the stumps and 
butt cuts of pine trees that died on the stump. 
The resin has collected there and dried. This 
wood is usually easy to split. Pine knots are 
the tough, heavy, resinous stubs of limbs that 
are found on dead pine trees. They, as well as 
fat pine, are almost imperishable, and those stick- 
ing out of old rotten logs are as good as any. 
The knots of balsam fir are similarly used. Hem- 
lock knots are worthless and will ruin an axe. 
The thick bark of hemlock, and of hardwoods 
generally, is good to make glowing coals in a 
hurry. 

In a hardwood forest the best kindling, sure to 



FIRES. 35 

be dry underneath the bark in all weathers, is 
procured by snaj)ping off the small dead branches, 
or stubs of branches, that are left on the trunks of 
medium-sized trees. Do not pick up twigs from the 
ground, but choose those, among the downwood, 
that are held up free from the ground. Where a 
tree is found that has been shivered by lightning, 
or one that has broken off without uprooting^ good 
splinters of dry wood will be found. In every 
laurel thicket there is plenty of dead laurel, and, 
since it is of sprangling growth, most of the 
branches will be free from the ground and snap- 
dry. They ignite readily and give out intense heat. 

It is a good test of one's resourcefulness to 
make a fire out of doors in rainy weather. The 
best way to go about it depends upon local con- 
ditions. Dry fuel and a place to build the fire 
can often be found under big uptilted logs, shelv- 
ing rocks, and similar natural shelters, or in the 
core of an old stump. In default of these, look 
for a dead softwood tree that leans to the south. 
The wood and bark on the under side will be dry 
— chop some off, split it fine, and build your fire 
under the shelter of the trunk. 

To light a match in the wind, face the wind. 
Cup your hands, with their backs toward the wind, 
and hold the match with its head pointing to- 
ward the rear of the cup — i. e., toward the wind. 
Remove the right hand just long enough to strike 
the match on something very close by; then in- 
stantly resume the former position. The flame 
will run up the match stick, instead of being 
blown away from it, and so will have something 
to feed on. 

Never leave a fire, or even a spark, behind you. 
Put it out. 



CHAPTER IV. 

DRESSING AND KEEPING GAME AND 

FISH. 

IT is not necessary to hang a deer np to skin 
and butcher it; but that is the more cleanly 
way. One man, unassisted, can hang a 
pretty heavy animal in the following way: Drag 
it headforemost to a sapling that is just limber 
enough to bend near the ground when you climb 
it. Cut three poles, ten or twelve feet long, with 
crotches near the ends. Climb the sapling and 
trim oif the top, leaving the stub of one stout 
branch near the top. Tie your belt into a loop 
around the deer's antlers or throat. Bend the 
sapling down until you can slip the loop over the 
end of the sapling. The latter, acting as a spring- 
pole, will lift part of the deer's weight. Then 
place the crotches of the poles under the fork of 
the sapling, the butts of the poles radiating out- 
ward, thus forming a tripod. Push first on one 
pole, then on another, and so raise the carcass 
free from the ground. 

If you do not intend to butcher the deer imme- 
diately, raise it up out of reach of roving dogs and 
"varmints," and put a smudge under it of rotten 
wood, well banked with stones and earth so that it 
cannot blow around and set the woods afire. The 
smudge will help to keep away blow-flies and 
birds of prey, and will guide you back to the place. 

36 



DRESSING GAME. 37 

It is common practice to hang deer by gambrels 
with the head down; but^ when hung head up, the 
animal is easier to skin, easier to butcher, drains 
better, and does not drip blood and juices over 
the neck and head, which you may want to have 
mounted for a trophy. Dried blood is very hard 
to remove from hair or fur. If the skin is 
stripped oif from rear to head it will be hard to 
grain. 

The more common way of skinning a deer, when 
the head is not wanted for mounting, is to hang it 
up by one hind leg and begin skinning at the 
hock, peeling the legs, then the body, and finally 
the neck, then removing the head with skin on 
(for baking in a hole), after which the carcass is 
swung by both legs and is eviscerated. 

If this is a buck, you may wish to save the head 
for mounting. For this, the skin of the whole 
neck must be preserved, clear back to the shoul- 
ders. Cleanse away any blood that may have is- 
sued from the nose aVid inouth and stuff some dry 
moss, or other absorbent, in the beast's mouth. 
Open your jackknife, insert the point, edge up, 
where the neck joins the back, and cut the skin 
in a circle around the base of the neck, running 
from the withers down over the front of the shoul- 
der-blade to the brisket or point of the breast on 
each side. Do not skin the head at present — 
you may not have time for that. Insert the point 
of the knife tlirough the skin over the paunch, and, 
following the middle line of the chest, slit upward 
to meet the cut around the neck. Then reverse, 
and continue the slit backward to the end of the 
tail, being careful not to perforate the walls of 
the belly. Then slit along the inside of each leg 
from the hoof to the belly-slit. If you wish to 



3S 



CAMP COOKERY. 





Fig. 7.- — The 
Use Your 



place to 
Knife. 



From Forest and Stream. 



save the feet for mountings be particular to rip the 
skin in a straight line up the under side of the leg, 
starting by inserting the point of the knife be- 
tween the heel-pads. 

Now comes a nice tricky that of severino: 
shanks. Nearly every in- 
experienced person starts 
too high. Study the ac- 
companying illustrations of 
these joints^ noting where 
the arrow points^, which is 
the place to use your knife. 
In a deer the joint is about 
an inch and a half below 
the hock on the hind leg, 
and an inch below the knee 
on the fore leg. Cut square across through 
skin and muscles, in front, and similarly behind; 
then, with a quick pull backward against your 
knee, snap the shank off. The joint of the fore 
leg is broken in a similar manner, excepting that 
it is snapped forward. 

Having stripped the vertebrae from the tail, now 
peel the skin off the whole animal, from the shoul- 
ders downward, assisting with your closed fist, 
and, where necessary, with the knife; but wher- 
ever the knife is used be careful to scrape the 
skin as clean as you can, without cutting it, for 
every adhering bit of fat, flesh, or membrane must 
be thoroughly removed before the skin is ready 
for tanning, and that is easier to do now than 
after it dries. The whole operation of skinning 
is much easier while the animal is still warm than 
after the body has become cold. To skin a frozen 
animal is a desperately mean job. I have known 



1 



DRESSING GAME. 39 

four old hunters to work nearly a whole after- 
noon in skinning a frozen bear. 

The skin of the body and limbs having been re- 
moved, stretch it out flat, hair side down, along- 
side of you to receive portions of the meat as it is 
butchered. Now take up your knife, insert its 
point alongside the breastbone, and cut through 
the false ribs to the point of the sternum. In a 
young animal this is easy; but in an old one the 
ribs have ossified, and you must search for the 
soft points of union between the ribs and the ster- 
num, which are rather hard to find. Here your 
knife's temper, and perhaps your own, will be put 
to the test. The most trifling-looking pocket 
hatchet would do the trick in a jiffy. 

Open the abdominal cavity, taking care not to 
rupture anything, and prop the chest open a few 
inches with a stick, or by merely pulling the ribs 
away from each other. Cut the diaphragm free 
at both sides and at the back. (It is the mem- 
brane that separates the organs of the chest from 
those of the abdomen.) Everything now is free 
from the body except at the throat and anus. 
Reach in and take in your grasp all the vessels that 
run up into the neck. With knife in the other 
hand, cut them across from above downward, tak- 
ing care that you do not cut yourself. Now pull 
away gradually, helping a little here and there 
with the knife until all the contents of the visceral 
cavity lie at your feet, save the lower end of the 
rectum, which is still attached. With a hatchet, 
if you had one, you would now split the pelvis. 
The thing can be done with a large knife, if the 
animal is not too old, by finding the soft suture at 
the highest part of the bone and rocking the knife- 
edge on it. But you may not be able to accom- 



'40 CAMP COOKERY. 

plish this just now. So reach in with the jack- 
knife, cut carefully around the rectum and urinary 
organs, keeping as close to the bone as possible, 
and free ever^'^thing from the cavity. If water is 
near, wash out the abdominal cavity and let it 
drain. 

To remove the head; flay back the skin for sev- 
eral inches at base of neck, cut through flesh, etc., 
to the backbone. Search along this till you find 
the flat joint between the faces of two vertebrae, 
separate these as far as you can; then twist the 
attached part of the body round and round, until 
it breaks off.* 

In butchering, save the liver, heart, brain, milt 
(spleen), kidneys, and the caul fat. The caul is 
the fold of membrane loaded with fat that covers 
most of the intestines. In removing the liver you 
need not bother about a gall-bladder, for a deer 
has none. Many a tenderfoot has been tricked 
into looking for it. 

If one is in a hurry, and is not particular about 
the hide, he can do his butchering on the ground. 
In that case, lay the animal on sloping ground, 
with its head uphill; or bend its back over a log 
or rock; or turn it on its back with its head 
twisted around and wedged under one side. 

In butchering an elk or moose that has antlers, 
first remove the head. Then turn the body on 
its back and prop it in position with a couple of 
three-foot stakes sharpened at both ends, a hole 
being dug for a moose's withers. Sometimes only 
the haunches, sirloins, and tongue are saved, these 
being cut away without skinning or gutting the 
carcass. 



*Dircctions how to skin a head for mounting are given 
in my Camping and Woodcraft, Chap. XIX, 



DRESSING GAME. 41 

Bears are skinned on the ground^ beginning the 
incisions at the feet and leaving the scalp^ or 
skin of the whole head_, attached. It is quite a 
task to flesh the pelts, as they are fatty and 
greasy. All of the caul fat should be saved for 
rendering into bear's oil, which is much better 
and wholesomer than lard. The brain, liver, and 
milt are good eating. 

If a hide is to be preserved for some time in 
a green state, use nothing on it but salt. Spread 
it out flat, hair side down, stretch the legs, flanks, 
etc., and rub all parts thoroughly with salt, par- 
ticular pains being taken to leave no little fold 
untreated. A moose-hide will take ten or even 
fifteen pounds of salt. As soon as the salting is 
done, fold in the legs and roll the hide up. 

When a deer has merely been eviscerated and 
is hung up to be skinned, and cut up at a more 
convenient season, prop open the abdominal cavity 
with a stick, so that it may dry out quickly. If 
the weather is warm enough at any hour of the 
day for flies to come out, keep a smudge going 
under the carcass. It takes flies but a few minutes 
to raise Ned with venison. If blows are discov- 
ered on the meat, remove them, looking especially 
at all folds and nicks in the meat, and around the 
bones, for the blows work into such places very 
quickly. So long as they have not bored into the 
flesh they do it no harm. 

It may be said here that even smoked bacon is 
not immune from blows, and it should not be hung 
up without a cheesecloth cover. The fly that 
blows meats is the same that starts "skippers" in 
cheese. 

Hornaday gives the following rule, in his Nat- 
ural History, for computing the live weight of 



42 CAMP COOKERY. 

deer from the dressed weight: Add four ciphers 
to the dressed weight in pounds, and divide by 
78,612; the quotient will be the live weight in 
pounds. 

Now for what Shakespeare calls "small deer": 

I must take issue with Nessmuk on the art of 
skinning a squirrel. He says: "Chop off head, 
tail, and feet with the hatchet; cut the skin on 
the back crosswise, and, inserting the two middle 
fingers, pull the skin off in two parts (iiead and 
tail). Clean and cut the squirrel in halves, leav- 
ing two ribs on the hind quarters." The objec- 
tion is that, in this case, jou throw away the best 
part of the squirrel, the cheek meat and brain 
being its special tid-bits. 

A better way is this: Sever the tail from be- 
low, holding your left forefinger close in behind 
it, and cutting through the vertebrae close up to 
the body, leaving only the hide on the top side. 
Then turn the squirrel over and cut a slit down 
along each ham. Put your foot on the tail, hold 
the rear end of the squirrel in your hand, and pull, 
stripping the skin off to the fore legs. Peel the 
skin from the hind legs, and cut off the feet. Then 
cut off the fore feet. Skin to the neck; assist here 
a little with the knife; then skin to the ears; cut 
off the butts of the ears ; then skin till the blue 
of the eyeballs shows, and cut ; then to the nose till 
the teeth show, and cut it off. Thus you get no 
hair on the meat, and the whole thing is done in 
less than a minute. 

Turkeys, geese, ducks, and grouse are usually 
dry picked. If this could be done while the 
bodies were still warm, it would be no job at all; 
but after they are cold it generally results in a 
good deal of laceration of the skin — so much so 



DRESSING GAME. 43 

that sometimes the disgusted operator gives up and 
skins the whole bird. It would be better to scald 
them first, like chickens. In dry picking, hang 
the bird up by one leg, pluck first the pinions and 
tail feathers; then the small feathers from shanks 
and inside of thighs ; then the others. Grasp only 
a few feathers at a time between finger and thumb, 
as close to the skin as possible, and pull quickly 
toward the head. Then pick out all pin-feathers 
and quills. Singe the down off quickly, so as not 
to give an oily appearance to the skin. Ordi- 
narily the down can be removed from a duck's 
breast by grasping the bird by the neck and giv- 
ing one sweep of the open hand down one side of 
the body and then one down the other. In pluck- 
ing geese or ducks some use finely powdered resin 
to remove the pin-feathers. The bird is plucked 
dry, then rubbed all over with the resin, dipped in 
and out of boiling water seven or eight times, 
and then the pin-feathers and down are easily 
rubbed off. 

To draw a bird: cut off the head, and the legs 
at the first joint. Make a lengthwise slit on back 
at base of neck and sever neck bone close to 
body, also the membrane which holds the wind- 
pipe. Make a lengthwise incision from breast- 
bone to (and around) the vent, so you can easily 
draw the insides, which must be done carefully, 
so as not to rupture the gall-bladder. The idea 
that ducks and other game birds should hang until 
they smell badly is monstrous. If you want to 
know where such tastes originated, read the annals 
of medieval sieges. 

A small trout is easily cleaned by tearing out 
the gills with thumb and forefinger and drawing 
the inside out with them. In a large trout the 



'44> CAMP COOKERY. 

gills should be cut free from the lower jaw and 
back of head^ and a slit cut along the under side 
from head to fin; the inside is then drawn out by 
the gills^ leaving the fish clean within. 

To scale a fish: grasp it by the head, and, using 
a knife that is not over-keen, scale first one side 
and then the other, with swift, steady sweeps to- 
ward you. The scales below the gills, and those 
near the fins, are removed by moving the point 
of the knife crosswise to the fish's length. Next 
place the knife just below the belly fin and with 
a slant stroke cut off this, the side fins, and the 
head, all in one piece. Then remove the back 
fin, and the spines beneath it, by making a deep 
incision on each side of the fin and pulling the 
latter out. The ventral part is removed in the 
same way. Open the fish, wash it in cold water, 
scrape off the slime, and then wipe it dry with a 
clean cloth or towel. Large fish, for broiling, 
should be split open along the back and the spine 
removed. 

Some fish, such as yellow perch, are better 
skinned than scaled. Grasp the fish firmly, belly 
down. Cut across the nape of the neck, run the 
point of the knife along the back to the tail, and 
on each side of the back fin. Remove the fin by 
catching lower end between thumb and knife blade 
and pulling smartly upward toward the head. 
Skin each side by, seizing between thumb and knife 
the flap of skin at nape and jerking outward and 
downward; then the rest, by grasping skin as near 
the vent as possible and tearing quickly down to 
the tail, bring away the anal fin. Remove the 
head and the entrails will come with it. Trout 
and pickerel should be scraped free of slime. 

To skin a bullhead: cut off the ends of the 



DRESSING GAME. 45 

spines, slit the skin behind and around the head, 
and then from this point along tlie Lack to the 
tail, cutting around the back iin. Then peel the 
two corners of the skin well down, sever the back- 
bone, and, holding to the corners of the skin with 
one hand, pull the fish's body free from the skin 
with the other. 

To skin an eel: nail it up by the tail at a con- 
venient height, or impale it thus on the sharpened 
end of a little stake ; cut through the skin, around 
the body, just forward of the tail, work its edges 
loose, then pull, stripping off the skin entire. If 
preferred, the skin can be scalded. 

Venison keeps a long time without curing, if 
the climate is cool and dry. To cure a deer's 
• ham, hang it up by the shank, divide the muscles 
just above the hock, and insert a handful of dry 
salt. The meat of the deer tribe gets more tender 
and better flavored the longer it is hung up. In 
warm weather dust flour all over a haunch or sad- 
dle of venison, sew it up in a loose bag of cheese- 
cloth, and hang it in a shady place where there is 
a current of air. It will keep sweet for several 
weeks, if there is no crevice in the bag through 
which insects can penetrate. Ordinarily it is best 
not to salt meat, for salt draws the juices. Bear 
meat, however, requires much salt to cure it — 
more than any other game animal. Hornaday 
recommends the following recipe for curing veni- 
son: — 

The proportions of the mixture I use are: 

Salt 3 lbs., 

Allspice 4 table-spoonfuls, 

Black Pepper ... 5 " " 

all thoroughly mixed. 

Take a ham of deer, elk, or mountain sheep, or fall- 
killed mountain goat, and as soon as possible after 



46 CAMP COOKERY. 

killing, dissect the thigh, muscle by muscle. Any one 
can learn to do this by following up with the knife 
the natural divisions between the muscles. With big 
game like elk, some of the muscles of the thigh are so 
thick they require to be split in two. A piece of meat 
should not exceed five inches in thickness. Skin off all 
enveloping membranes, so that the curative powder will 
come in direct contact with the raw, moist flesh. The 
flesh must be sufficiently fresh and moist that the pre- 
servative will readily adhere to it. The best size for 
pieces of meat to be cured by this process is not over 
a foot long, by six or eight inches wide and four inches 
thick. 

When each piece has been neatly and skilfully pre- 
pared rub the powder upon every part of the sur- 
face, and let the mixture adhere as much as it will. 
Then hang up each piece of meat, by a string through 
a hole in the smaller end, and let it dry in the wind. 
If the sun is hot, keep the meat in the shade; but in the 
North the sun helps the process. Never let the meat 
get wet. If the weather is rainy for a long period, hang 
your meat-rack where it will get heat from the camp- 
fire, but no more smoke than is unavoidable, and cover 
it at night with a piece of canvas. 

Meat thus prepared is not at its best for eating until 
it is about a month old; then slice it thin. After that 
no sportsman, or hunter, or trapper can get enough of 
it. . . . 

No; this is not "jerked" meat. It is many times bet- 
ter. It is always eaten uncooked, and as a concen- 
trated, stimulating food for men in the wilds it is val- 
uable. 

(Hornaday. Camp-fires in the Canadian Rockies, 301- 
203.) 

It is a curious fact that blow-flies work close 
to the ground_, and will seldom meddle with meat 
that is hung more than ten feet above the grpund. 
Game or fish suspended at a height of twenty feet 
will be immune from "blows." 

To keep fish that must be carried some distance, 
in hot weather: clean them as soon as you can 
after they are caught^ and tcipe them dry. Then 
rub a little salt along their backbones, but nowhere 
else. Do not pile them touching each other, but 



DRESSING GAME. 47 

between layers of cheesecloth^ nettles, or basswood 
leaves. 

To keep fish in camp: scale, clean, and behead 
them; then string them by a cord through their 
tails and hang them, head down, in a shady, dry, 
breezy place. Never use fish that have been ly- 
ing in the sun or that have begun to soften. 
Ptomaine poisoning works in a mysterious but ef- 
fectual way. 

To dry fish for future use: split them along 
the back, remove the backbones and entrails, salt 
the fish, and hang them up on a frame over a 
smudge until they are well smoked. Or, make a 
trough by hewing out a softwood log, place the 
split fish in this, and cover them with a weak 
brine for one or two nights. Make a conical 
bark tepee on a tripod, suspend the fish in it, 
and dry and smoke them over a small fire for three 
days and nights. 

To ship rabbits, squirrels, etc. : do not skin them, 
but remove the entrails, wipe the insides perfectly 
dry, wrap in paper, and pack them back down. 

Never pack birds or fish in straw or grass with- 
out ice, for in damp or warm weather this will 
heat or sweat them. Do not let them freeze, as 
they will quickly spoil after thawing. Food in 
a bird's crop soon sours; the crop should be re- 
moved. 

To preserve birds in warm weather for ship- 
ment: draw them, wash the inside perfectly clean, 
dry thoroughly, and then take pieces of charcoal 
from the fireplace, wrap them in a thin rag, and 
fill the abdominal cavity with this. Also fill the 
bill, ears, eyes, and anal opening with powdered 
charcoal, to keep off flies and prevent putrefac- 
tion. Reject all pieces of charcoal tliat are only 



48 CAMP COOKERY. 

half-burnt or have the odor of creosote. Birds 
stuffed in this way will keep sweet for a week in 
hot weather. 

If you pack birds or fish in ice, wrap them first 
in many thicknesses of paper or grass, so that 
no ice can touch them. 



CHAPTER V. 
MEAT. 

THE main secrets of good meals in camp are 
to have a proper fire, good materials, and 
then to imprison in each dish, at the out- 
set, its natural juice and characteristic flavor. To 
season fresh camp dishes as a French chef would 
is a blunder of the first magnitude. The raw 
materials used in city cuisine are often of inferior 
quality, from keeping in cold storage or with 
chemical preservatives ; so their insipidity must 
be corrected by spices, herbs, and sauces to make 
them eatable. In cheap restaurants and boarding 
houses, where the chef's skill is lacking, "all 
things taste alike" from having been penned up 
together in a refrigerator and cooked in a fetid 
atmosphere. 

In my chapter on Provisions I advised that a 
few condiments be taken along, but these are 
mostly for seasoning left-overs or for desserts — 
not for fresh meat, unless we have but one kind, to 
the surfeiting point. In the woods our fish is 
freshly caught, our game has hung out of doors, 
and the water and air used in cooking (most im- 
portant factors) are sweet and pure. Such viands 
need no masking. The only seasoning required 
is with pepper and salt, to be used sparingly, and 
not added (except in soups and stews) until the 

49 



50 CAMP COOKERY. 

dish is nearly or quite done. Remember this: salt 
draws the juices. 

The juices of meats and fish are their most 
palatable and nutritious ingredients. We extract 
them purposely in making soups^ stews, and 
gravies, but in so doing we ruin the meat itself. 
Any fish, flesh, or fowl that is fit to be eaten for 
the good meat's sake should be cooked succulent, 
by first coagulating the outside (searing in a bright 
flame or in a very hot pan, or plunging into smok- 
ing hot grease or furiouslj^^ boiling water) and 
then removing farther from the fire to cook grad- 
ually till done. The first process, which is quickly 
performed, is "the surprise." It sets the juices, 
and, in the case of frying, seals the fish or meat in 
a grease-proof envelope so that it will not be- 
come sodden but will dry crisp when drained. The 
horrors of the frying-pan that has been unskill- 
fully wielded are too well known. Let us camp- 
ers, to whom the frying-pan is an almost indis- 
pensable utensil, set a good example to our grease- 
afflicted country by using it according to the code 
of health and epicurean taste. 

Meat, game, and fish may be fried, broiled, 
roasted, baked, boiled, stewed, or steamed. Frying 
and broiling are the quickest processes; roasting, 
baking, and boiling take an hour or two; a stew 
of meat and vegetables, to be good, takes half a 
day, and so does soup prepared from the raw ma- 
terials. Tough meat should be boiled or braised 
in a pot. 

FRYING. 

Do not try to fry over a flaming fire or a deep 
bed of coals ; the grease would likely burn and 
catch aflame. Rake a thin layer of coals out in 



MEAT. 51 

front of the fire; or, for a quick meal, make your 
fire of small dry sticks, no thicker than your fin- 
ger, boil water for your coffee over the flame, and 
then fry over the quickly formed coals. 

If you have a deep pan and plenty of frying 
fat, it is much the best to immerse the material 
completely in boiling grease, as doughnuts are 
fried. Let the fat boil until little jets of smoke 
arise (being careful not to burn the grease). 
When fat begins to smoke continuously it is de- 
composing and will impart an acrid taste. When 
a bread crumb dropped in will be crisp when 
taken out, the fat is of the right temperature. 
Then quickly drop in small pieces of the material, 
one at a time so as not to check the heat. Turn 
them once while cooking. Remove when done, and 
drop them a moment on coarse paper to absorb sur- 
plus grease, or hang them over a row of small 
sticks so they can drain. Then season. The fry 
will be crisp, and^ dry enough to handle without 
soiling the fingers. This is the way for small 
fish. 

Travelers must generally get along with shal- 
low pans and little grease. To fry (or, properly, 
to saute) in this manner, without getting the ar- 
ticle sodden and unfit for the stomach, heat the 
dry pan very hot, and then grease it only enough 
to keep the meat from sticking (fat meat needs 
none). The material must be dry when put in 
the pan (wipe fish with a tow:el) or it will absorb 
grease. Cook quickly and turn frequently, not 
jabbing with a fork for tliat would let juice es- 
cape. Season when done, and serve piping hot. 

Fat used for frying fish must not be used again 
for anything but fish. Surplus fat can be kept 



52 CAMP COOKERY. 

in a baking powder can, sealed, for transit, with 
surgeon's plaster. 

Chops, fat meats, squirrels, rabbits, and the 
smaller game birds are best sauted or fricasseed 
and served with gravy. A fricassee is made of 
meat or birds cut into small pieces, fried or 
stewed, and served with gravy. Sausage should 
be fried over a very gentle fire. 

BROILING. 

Fresh meat that is tender enough to escape the 
boiling pot or the braising oven should either be 
broiled or roasted before a bed of clear, hard 
coals. Both of these processes preserve the char- 
acteristic flavor of the meat and add that piquant, 
aromatic-bitter "fraste of the fire" which no pan 
nor oven can impart. Broil when you are in a 
hurry, but when you have leisure for a good job, 
roast your meat, basting it frequently with drip- 
pings from the pan below, so as to keep the sur- 
face moist and flexible and insure that precise de- 
gree of browning which delights a gourmet. 

For broiling, cut the meat at least an inch 
thick. Only tender pieces are fit for broiling. 
Venison usually requires some pounding, but don't 
gash it in doing so. Have a bed of bright coals 
free from smoke, with clear flaming fire to one 
side. Sear outside of meat by thrusting for a 
moment in the flame and turning; then broil be- 
fore the fire, rather than over it, so as to catch 
drippings in a pan underneath. Do not season 
until done. A steak 1 inch thick should be broiled 
five minutes, I^ inches ten minutes, 2 inches 
twenty minutes. Serve on hot dish with drippings 
poured over, or buttered. 

To broil enough for a party, when you have no 



MEAT. 53 

broiler, clean the frying-pan thoroughly and get 
it almost red hot, so as to seal joores of meat 
instantly. Cover pan. Turn meat often, without 
stabbing. A large venison steak will be done in 
ten minutes. Put on hot dish, season with pepper 
and salt, and pour juices over it. Equal to meat 
broiled on a gridiron, and saves the juices. To 
broil by completely covering the slice of meat with 
hot ashes and embers is a very good way. 

To grill on a rock, take two large flat stones of 
a kind that do not burst from heat (not moist 
ones), wipe them clean of grit, place them one 
above the other, with a few pebbles between to 
keep them apart, and build a fire around them. 
When they are well heated, sweep away the ashes, 
and place your slices of meat between the stones. 

Before broiling fish on an iron they should be 
buttered and floured to prevent sticking; or, grease 
the broiler. 

ROASTING. 

To roast is to cook by the direct heat of the 
fire, as on a spit or before a high bed of coals. 
Baking is performed in an oven, pit, or closed 
vessel. No kitchen range can compete with an 
open fire for roasting. 

Build a rather large fire of split hardwood 
(softwoods are useless) against a high backlog or 
wall of rocks which will reflect the heat forward. 
Sear the outside of the roast (not a bird or fish) 
in clear flames until outer layer of albumen is 
coagulated. Then skewer thin slices of pork to 
upper end; hang roast before fire and close to it 
by a stout wet cord; turn frequently; catch drip- 
pings in pan or green-bark trough, and baste with 
them. This is better than roasting on a spit over 



54 CAMP COOKERY. 

the fire, because the heat can be better regulated, 
the meat turned and held in position more easily, 
the roast ij not smoked, and the drippings are 
utilized. 

Just before the meat is done, baste it and sprin- 
kle with flour, then brown it near the fire, and 
make gravy as directed on page 62. 

A whole side of venison can be roasted by plant- 
ing two stout forked stakes before the fire, a stub 
of each stake being thrust through a slit cut be- 
tween the ribs and under the backbone. The for- 
ward part of the saddle is the best roasting piece. 
Trim off flanky parts and ends of ribs, and split 
backbone lengthwise so that the whole will hang 
flat. To roast a shoulder, peel it from the side, 
cut off leg at knee, gash thickest part of flesh, 
press bits of pork into them, and skewer some 
slices to upper part. 

When roasting a large joint, a turkey, or any- 
thing else that will require more than an hour of 
steady heat, do not depend upon adding wood from 
time to time, unless you have a good supply of 
sound, dry hardwood sticks of stove-wood size. 
If green wood or large sticks must be used, build 
a bonfire of them at one side of your cooking-fire, 
and shovel coals from it as required. It will not 
do to check the cooking-fire. 

Kabobs. — When in a hurry, cut a l^^ o^ 2 inch 
portion from the saddle or other tender part, break 
up the fiber by pounding, unless the animal was 
young, and divide the meat into several small frag- 
ments. Impale one of these on a sharpened stick, 
salt and pepper it, plunge it for a moment into a 
clear bright flame, then toast it slowly over the 
embers. Salt, in this case, is glazed on the sur- 



MEAT. 55 

face and cannot draw the juice. While eating one 
bit, toast another. 

Roasting in the Reflector, — Pin thin slices of 
pork or bacon over the roast. Put a little water 
in the bake-pan, lay the meat in, and set the baker 
before the fire. Baste occasionally. When the 
front is done, reverse the pan'. Make gravy from 
the drippings. 

Barbecueing, — To barbecue is to roast an ani- 
mal whole, and baste it frequently with a special 
dressing, for which the following recipe is bor- 
rowed from Frank Bates: 

One pint of vinegar, half a can of tomatoes, two tea- 
spoonfuls of red pepper (chopped pepper-pods are bet- 
ter), a teaspoonful of black pepper, same of salt, two 
tablespoonfuls of butter. Simmer together till it is com- 
pletely amalgamated. Have a bit of clean cloth or 
sponge tied on the end of a stick, and keep the meat 
well basted with the dressing as long as it is on the fire. 

BRAISING. 

Tough meat is improved by braising in a Dutch 
oven, or a covered pot or saucepan. This process 
lies between baking and frying. It is pre-emi- 
nently the way to cook bear meat, venison shoul- 
ders and rounds. Put the meat in the oven or 
pot with about two inches of hot water in the bot- 
tom, and a bit of bacon or pork (but not for bear). 
Add some chopped onion, if desired, for seasoning. 
Cover and cook about fifteen minutes to the 
pound. A half hour before the meat is done, sea- 
son it with salt and pepper. 

The gravy is made by pouring the grease from 
the pot, adding a little water and salt, and rubbing 
flour into it gradually with a spoon. 

BAKING MEAT. 

Baking in a Hole. — This is a modification of 



56 CAMP COOKERY. 

braising. Dig a hole in the ground^ say 18x18x12 
inches. Place kindling in it^ and over the hole 
build a cob house by laying split hardwood sticks 
across, not touching each other, then another 
course over these and at right angles to them, and 
so on till you have a stack two feet high. Set fire 
to it. The air will circulate freely, and the sticks, 
if of uniform size, will all burn down to coals 
together. 

Cut the fowl, or whatever it is, in pieces, sea- 
son, add a chunk of fat pork the size of your fist, 
put in the kettle, pour in enough water to cover, 
put lid on kettle, rake coals out of hole, put kettle 
in, shovel coals around and over it, cover all with 
a few inches of earth, and let it alone over night. 
It beats a bake-oven. In case of rain, cover with 
bark. 

Experiment with this two or three times before 
you risk much on it; for the right heat and the 
time required can only be learned by experience. 

Baking an Animal in its Hide. — If the beast is 
too large to bake entire, cut off what you want 
and sew it up in a piece of the hide. In this case 
it is best to have the hole lined with flat stones. 
Rake out embers, put meat in, cover first with 
green grass or leaves, then with the hot coals and 
ashes, and build a fire on top. When done, re- 
move the skin. 

A deer's head is placed in the pit, neck down, 
and baked in the same way: time about six hours. 

Baking in Clay. — This hermetically seals the 
meat while cooking, and is better than baking in 
a kettle, but requires experience. Draw the ani- 
mal, but leave the skin and hair on. If it be a 
large bird, as a duck or goose, cut off head and 
most of neck, also feet and pinions, pull out tail 



MEAT. 57 

feathers and cut tail off (to get rid of oil sac), 
but leave smaller feathers on. If a fish, do not 
scale. Moisten and work some clay till it is like 
softened putty. Roll it out in a sheet an inch or 
two thick and large enough to completely encase 
the animal. Cover the latter so that no feather 
or hair projects. Place in fire and cover with good 
bed of coals and let it remain with fire burning 
on top for about % of an hour, if a medium fish 
or bird. Larger animals require more time, and 
had best be placed in bake-hole over night. 

When done, break open the hard casing of baked 
clay. The skin peels off with it, leaving the meat 
perfectly clean and baked to perfection in its own 
juices. This method has been practiced for ages 
by the gypsies and other primitive peoples. 

Frank Bates recommends another way: "Have 
a pail of water in which stir clay until it is of 
the consistency of thick porridge or whitewash. 
Take the bird by the feet and dip into the water. 
The clay will gather on and between the feathers. 
Repeat till the bird is a mass of clay. Lay this 
in the ashes, being careful to dry the outside. . . . 
Bake till the clay is almost burned to a brick." 

Baking in the Embers. — To bake a fish, clean 
it — if it is large enough to be emptied through a 
hole in the neck, do not slit the belly — season 
with salt and pepper, and, if liked, stuff with In- 
dian meal. Have ready a good bed of glowing 
hardwood coals ; cover it with a thin layer of 
ashes, that the fish may not be burnt. Lay the 
fish on this, and cover it with more ashes and coals. 
Half an hour, more or less, is required, accord- 
ing to size. On removing the fish, pull off the 
skin, and the flesh will be found clean and palat- 
able. 



58 CAMP COOKERY. 

A bird^ for example a duck, is baked in much 
the same way. Draw it, but do not remove the 
feathers. If you like stuffed duck, stuff with 
bread crumbs or broken biscuit, well seasoned 
with salt and pepper. Wet the feathers by dip- 
ping the bird in water; then bury it in the ashes 
and coals. A teal will require about half an hour; 
other birds in proportion. 

BOILING. 

The broader the pot, and the blacker it is, the 
quicker it boils. Fresh meats should be started in 
boiling water; salt or corned meats, and those in- 
tended for stews or soups, in cold water. The 
meat (except hams) should be cut into chunks 
of not over five pounds each, and soup bones well 
cracked. Watch during first half hour, and skim 
off all scum as fast as it rises, or it will settle and 
adhere to meat. Fresh meat should be boiled un- 
til bones are free, or until a fork will pierce easily 
(ten pounds take about two and a half hours). 
Save the broth for soup-stock, or make gravy of 
it by seasoning with pepper and thickening with 
flour. (See page 62.) 

Meat that is to be eaten cold should be allowed 
to cool in the liquor in which it was boiled. A 
tablespoonful or two of vinegar added to the boil- 
ing water makes meat more tender and fish firmer. 
Turn the meat several times while boiling. If the 
water needs replenishing, do it with boiling, not 
cold, water. Season a short time before meat is 
done. If vegetables are to be cooked with the 
meat, add them at such time that they will just 
finish cooking when the meat is done (potatoes 
twenty to thirty minutes before the end; carrots 
and turnips, sliced, one to one and a half hours). 



MEAT. 59 

Remember this: put fresh meat in hard boiling 
water for only five minutes^ to set the juices; then 
remove to greater height over the fire and boil 
very slowly — to let it boil hard all the time would 
make it tough and indigestible. Salt or corned 
meats go in cold water at the start and are gradu- 
ally brought to a boil; thereafter they should be 
allowed barely to simmer. 

Fish go in boiling salted water. Boiling meat 
must be kept covered. 

At high altitudes it is impossible to cook satis- 
factorily by boilings because water boils at a lower 
and lower temperature the higher we climb. The 
decrease is at the rate of about one degree for 
every 550 feet up to one mile, and one degree for 
560 feet above that, when the temperature is 70°. 
With the air at 32° F., and the barometer at 30 
inches, water boils at 212° at sea-level, 202.5° at 
5,000 feet, 193.3° at 10,000 feet, and 184.5° at 
15,000 feet. These figures vary somewhat accord- 
ing to the purity of the water, the material of the 
vessel, etc. To parboil is to boil only until tender, 
before cooking in some other way. 

STEWING. 

This process is slow, and should be reserved for 
tough meats. Use lean meat only. First brown 
it with some hot fat in a frying-pan; or jDut a 
couple of ounces of chopped pork in a kettle and 
get it thoroughly hot; cut your meat into small 
pieces; drop them into the fat and "jiggle" the 
kettle until the surface of the meat is coagulated 
by the hot fat, being careful, the while, not to 
burn it. Add a thickening of a couple of ounces 
of flour and mix it thoroughly with the fat; then 
a pint of water or soup-stock. Heat the contents 



60 CAMP COOKERY. 

of the kettle to boiling and season with salt, Pep- 
per, and chopped onion. Curry powder, if you 
like it, is proper in a stew. Now cover the kettle 
closely and hang it where it will only simmer for 
four or five hours. Stews may be thickened with 
rice, potatoes, or oatmeal, as well as with flour. 
Add condiments to suit the taste. A ragout is 
nothing but a highly seasoned stew. The greater 
the variety of meats and vegetables, the better. 

The method given above is the one I have fol- 
lowed; but I take the liberty of adding another 
by Captain Kenealy: 

Stewing is an admirable way of making palatable 
coarse and tough pieces of meat, but it requires the 
knack, like all other culinary processes. Have a hot fry- 
pan ready, cut the meat up into small squares and put 
it (without any dripping or fat) into the pan. Let it 
brown well, adding a small quantity of granulated sugar 
and sliced onions to taste. Cook until the onions are 
tender and well colored. Then empty the fry-pan into a 
stew-pan and add boiling water to cover the meat, and 
let it simmer gently for two or three hours. Flavor with 
salt, pepper, sweet herbs, curry powder or what you will. 
The result will be a savory dish of tender meat, called by 
the French a ragout. It is easy to prepare it this way. 
Do not boil it furiously as is sometimes done, or it will 
become tough. This dish may be thickened with browned 
flour, and vegetables may be added — turnips, carrots, 
celery, etc., cut into small pieces and browned with the 
meat. The sugar improves the flavor vastly. The only 
condiments actually necessary are pepper and salt. 
Other flavorings are luxuries. 

STEAMING. 

To steam meat or vegetables: build a large fire 
and throw on it a number of smooth stones, not 
of the bomb-shell kind. Dig a hole in the ground 
near the fire. When the stones are red hot, fork 
them into the hole, level them, cover with green 
or wet leaves, grass, or branches, place the meat 
or potatoes on this layer, cover with more leaves,' 



MEAT. 61 

and then cover all with a good layer of earth. 
Now bore a small hole down to the food, pour 
in some water, and immediately stop up the hole, 
letting the food steam until tender. This is the 
Chinook method of cooking camass. Shellfish can 
be steamed in the same way. 

MEAT GRAVIES AND SAUCES. 

A gravy is seasoned with nothing but salt and 
pepper, the object being to preserve the flavor 
of the meat. A sauce is highly seasoned to dis- 
guise poor meat, or made-over dishes, or whatever 
has been served so often that it begins to pall 
on the appetite. 

An abundance of rich gravy is relished by 
campers who do not carry butter. They have 
nothing else to make their bread "slip down." 
Good gravy cannot be made from meat that has 
been fried properly or broiled, because the juice 
is left in the meat. Our pioneer families seldom 
had butter, yet they had to eat a much larger 
component of bread than we do, from lack of 
side dishes. Hence the "fried-to-a-chip" school 
of cookery. 

In such case, the right way is obvious, granting 
that you have plenty of meat. Fry properly 
enough meat for the party and leave enough more 
in the pan to make gravy. Gash or mince this 
remainder, cook all the juice out of it without 
scorching, throw out the refuse meat, rub in a 
thickening prepared in advance as directed below, 
salt and pepper, then thin to the desired con- 
sistency with boiling water. The thickening is 
made by rubbing cold milk, or water, or broth, a 
little at a time, into a spoonful of flour, until a 
smooth paste is formed that will just drop from a 



62 CAMP COOKERY. 

spoon; or thicken with roux. Chopped liver im^ 
proves a gravy. 

Roux (pronounced "roo") is a thickening for 
gravy or soups that can be prepared at any time 
and kept ready for emergencies. It will keep 
good for months in a covered jar. A teaspoonful 
thickens half a pint of gravy, or a pint of soup. 

Brown roux is made thus: Melt slowly ^ lb. 
of butter, skim it well, let it stand for a minute 
to settle, and pour it off from the curd. Put the 
clear oily butter into a pan over a slow fire, 
shake into it enough sifted flour (7 or 8 oz.) to 
make a thick paste. Stir constantly and heat 
slowly and evenly until it is very thick and of 
a bright brown color. Put it into a jar. White 
roux is made in the same way except that it is 
stirred over a very gentle fire until it is thor- 
oughly baked but not browned. It is used for 
white gravy on fish, etc. 

Gravy for Boiled Meat. — Some of the liquor 
in which the meat was cooked can be thickened 
by melting a piece of butter the size of a small 
^gg, mixing with it very smoothly a tablespoonful 
of flour, heating until lightly browned, adding the 
meat liquor and letting it boil up. Flavor to taste 
and serve separately from the meat. 

Gravy for Roast Meat. — Use the drippings as 
above, and thin with boiling water in which half 
a teaspoonful of salt has been dissolved. 

Dripping is the fat that drops from meat when 
roasting. 

Gravy from Extract of Beef. — When there is 
no venison in camp, it will not be long before the 
men crave the taste of beef. Liebig's extract dis- 
solved in boiling water and liberally salted will 
make a good beef gravy by letting it boil up, 



MEAT. 63 

then simmer, and thicken in one of the ways de- 
scribed above. 

Cream Gravy for Meat or Fish. — 
14 pint milk. 

1 tablespoonful butter. 
Yo tablespoonful flour. 
yo tablespoonful salt. 
l^ tablespoonful pepper. 

Heat butter in frying-pan. Add flour, stirring 
until smooth and frothy. Draw pun back and 
gradually stir in the milk. Then return the pan 
to the fire. Add salt and pepper. Stir until 
sauce boils. This must be used at once, and 
everybody's plate should be hot, of course. 

Sauces. — A camp cook nearly always lacks the 
sweet herbs, fresh parsley, mushrooms, capers, 
anchovies, shrimps, tarragon, wine, and many 
other condiments to which standard sauces owe 
their characteristic flavors. He must make shift 
with spices and perhaps lemon, Worcestershire, 
vinegar, mustard, curry powder, or celery seed. 
How to use these to the best advantage cannot 
be taught in a book. Personal tastes and the 
materials at hand must govern. I give here the 
recipes for three simple sauces for meat. Others 
will be found in the chapters on Game, Fish, and 
Desserts. 

Mustard Sauce. — Brown two teaspoonfuls of 
flour in a pan with a little butter. Put two table- 
spoonfuls of butter on a plate and blend with it 
the browned flour, a teaspoonful of mustard, and 
a little salt. When these are smoothly mixed stir 
them into ^ pint boiling water. Simmer five 
minutes. Add enough vinegar or lemon juice to 
flavor. 

Venison Sauce. — Stir together one tablespoonful 
of butter with a teaspoonful of mustard and three 



64j camp cookery. 

tablespoonfuls of jelly (preferably currant). 
When these are well blended^, add three table- 
spoonfuls of vinegar, some grated nutmeg, and 
a dash of Cayenne pepper. Heat together. 
When the sauce boils add three tablespoonfuls 
chopped pickles. Serve at once. Currant jelly 
alone goes well with venison. 

Sauce for Broiled Venison. — Make the steak-dish 
very hot. Put on it for each pound of venison ^ 
tablespoonful of butter, a tablespoonful of cur- 
rant jelly, one of boiling water, and a little pep- 
per and salt. Turn the broiled steaks in the 
sauce once or twice and serve verv hot. 



CHAPTER VI. 
GAME. 

THE following additional details are sup- 
plementary to what has gone before, and 
presuppose a careful reading of the pre- 
ceding pages. 

Game and all other kinds of fresh meat should 
be hung up till they have bled thoroughly and 
have cooled through and through — they are ten- 
derer and better after they have hung several 
days. Venison especially is tough until it has 
hung a week. In no case cook meat until the 
animal heat has left it: if you do, it is likely to 
sicken jou. This does not ai3ply'to fish. Frozen 
meat or fish should be thawed in very cold water 
and then cooked immediately — warm water would 
soften it and steal its flavor. 

All mammals from the coon size down, as well 
as duck and grouse, unless young and tender, or 
unless they have hung several days, should be 
parboiled (gently simmered) from ten to thirty 
minutes, according to size, before frying, broiling, 
or roasting. The scent glands of mammals and 
the oil sacs of birds should be removed before 
cooking. In small mammals look for pea-shaped, 
waxy or red kernels under the front legs and on 
either side of the small of the back. 

As game has little natural fat, it requires fre- 
quent basting and the free use of butter or bftcon 
grease in cooking. 

65 



66 CAMP COOKERY, 

VENISON. 

(Deer of all species, elk, moose, caribou.) 

Fried Venison. — See page 50. 
Broiled Venison. — See page 53. 
Roast Venison. — See page 53, 
Braised Venison.' — See page 55. 
Baked Venison. — See page 55. 
Boiled Venison. — See page 58. 
Stewed Venison. — See page 59. 
Steamed Venison. — See page 60. 
Baked Deer's Head. — See page 56. 

Deer's Brains. — Fry them; or boil slowly half 
an hour. 

Heart. — Remove valves and tough, fibrous tis- 
sue; then braise_, or cut into small pieces and use 
in soups or stews. 

Kidneys. — Soak in cold water one hour. Cut 
into small pieces, and drop each piece into cold 
water, as cut. Wash well; then stew, seasoning 
with onion, celery seed, cloves, salt, pepper. 

Liver. — Carefully remove gall-bladder, if the 
animal has one — deer have none. Parboil the 
liver and skim off the bitter scum that rises; then 
fry with bacon; or put the liver on a spit, skewer 
some of the caul fat around it, and roast before 
the fire ; or cut the liver into slices ^ inch thick, 
soak it one hour in cold salt water, rinse well in 
warm water, wipe dry, dip each slice in flour 
seasoned with salt and pepper, and fry. 

Marrow Bones. — Cover ends with small pieces 
of plain dough made with flour and water, over 
which tie a floured cloth; place bones upright in 
kettle, and cover with boiling water. Boil two 
hours. Remove cloth and paste, push out mar- 
row, and serve with dry toast. 

Milt (Spleen). — Skewer a piece of bacon to it, 
and broil. 



GAME. 67 

Moose Muffle. — Boil like pig's head. Add an 
onion. 

Tongue. — Soak for one hour; rinse in fresh 
water; put in a kettle of cold water, bring to a 
boil, skim, and simmer two hours, or until tender. 
A blade of mace and a clove or two improve the 
gravy; so also Worcestershire sauce. 

Venison Sausages. — Utilize the tougher parts 
of the deer, or other game, by mincing the raw 
meat with half as much salt pork, season with 
pepper and sage, make into little j)ats, and fry 
like sausages. Very good. 

Game Pot Fie. — Take % teaspoonful baking 
powder to 1^ pint of flour, sift together, and add 
a teaspoonful lard or butter by rubbing it in, also 
a pinch of salt. Make a soft biscuit dough of this, 
handling as little as possible and being careful 
not to mix too thin. Roll into a sheet and cut 
into strips about I'^/o inch wide and 3 inches long, 
cutting two or three little holes through each to 
let steam escape. Meantime you have been boil- 
ing meat or game and have sliced some potatoes. 

When the meat is within one-half hour of being 
done, pour off the broth into another vessel and 
lift out most of the meat. Place a layer of meat 
and potatoes in bottom of kettle, and partially 
cover with strips of the dough; then another layer 
of meat and vegetables, another of dough, and so 
on until the pot is nearly full, topping off with 
dough. Pour the hot broth over this, cover 
tightly, and boil one-half hour, without lifting the 
pot cover, which, by admitting cold air, would 
make the dough "sad." Parsley helps the pot, 
when you can get it. 

Dumplings. — These add zest to a stew or to 
boiled meat of any kind. Plain dumplings are 



68 CAMP COOKERY. 

made of biscuit dough or the batter of dropped 
biscuit (recipes in chapter on Bread). Drop them 
into the pot a short time before meat is done. 
See also page 117. 

Bear, Braised. — See page 55. 

SMALL GAME. 

Jamholaya. — This is a delicious Creole dish, 
easily prepared. Cut up any kind of small game 
into joints, and stew them. When half done, add 
some minced ham or bacon, 14 pi^^ rice, and sea- 
son with pepper and salt. If rabbit is used, add 
onions. Serve with tomatoes as a sauce. 

Brunswick Stew. — This famous huntsman's dish 
of the Old Dominion is usually prepared with 
squirrels, but other game will serve as well. The 
ingredients, besides squirrels, are: 

1 qt. can tomatoes, * 

1 pt. can butter beans or limas, 

1 pt. can green corn, 

6 potatoes, parboiled and sliced, 

14 lb. butter, 

1/2 lb. salt pork (fat), 
1 teaspoonful black pepper, 

14 teaspoonful Cayenne, 

1 tablespoonful salt, 

2 tablespoonfuls white sugar, 
1 onion, minced small. 

Soak the squirrels half an hour in cold salted 
water. Add the salt to one gallon of water, and 
boil five minutes. Then put in the onion, beans, 
corn, pork (cut in fine strips), potatoes, pepper, 
and squirrels. Cover closely, and stew very 
slowly two and a half hours, stirring frequently 
to prevent burning. Add the tomatoes and sugar 
and stew an hour longer. Then add the butter, 
cut into bits the size of a walnut and rolled in 
flour. Boil ten minutes. Then serve at once. 



GAME. 69 

Curry of Game. — Cut some birds or other small 
game into rather small joints. P'ry until lightly- 
browned. Score each joint slightly, place a lit- 
tle curry powder in each opening, and squeeze 
lemon juice over it. Cover the joints with brown 
gravy and simmer gently for twenty minutes. 
Serve with rice around the dish. (See also Curry 
Sauce, page 80.) 

Game Pie. — Make a plain pie crust as directed 
in the chapter on Desserts. Cut the game into 
joints. Season rather highly. Moisten the joints 
with melted butter and lemon juice, or put a few 
thin strips of bacon in with them. Cover with 
top crust like a fruit pie and bake not too long; 
time according to size. 

Squirrels, Fried. — Unless they are young, par- 
boil them gently for ^2 hour in salted water. 
Then fry in butter or pork grease until brown. 
A dash of curry powder when frying is begun im- 
proves them, unless you dislike curry. Make 
gravy as directed on page C3. 

Squirrels, Broiled. — Use only young ones. Soak 
in cold salted water for an hour, wipe dry, and 
broil over the coals with a slice of bacon laid over 
each squirrel to baste it. 

Squirrels, Stewed. — They are best this way, or 
fricasseed. For directions see pages 59 and 52. 

Squirrels, Barbecued. — Build a hardwood fire 
between two large logs lying about two feet apart. 
At each end of the fire drive two forked stakes 
about fifteen inches apart, so that the four stakes 
will form a rectangle, like the legs of a table. 
The forks should all be about eighteen inches 
above the ground. Choose young, tender squirrels 
(if old ones must be used, parboil them until 
tender but not soft). Prepare spits by cutting 



70 CAMP COOKERY. 

stout switches of some wood that does not burn 
easily (sassafras is best — beware of poison 
sumach), peel them, sharpen the points, and har- 
den them by thrusting for a few moments under 
the hot ashes. Impale each squirrel by thrusting 
a spit through flank, belly, and shoulder, on one 
side, and another spit similarly on the other side, 
spreading out the sides, and, if necessary, cutting 
through the ribs, so that the squirrel will lie open 
and flat. 

Lay two poles across the fire from crotch to 
crotch of the posts, and across these lay your 
spitted squirrels. As soon as these are heated 
through, begin basting with a piece of pork on 
the end of a switch. Turn the squirrels as re- 
quired. Cook slowly, tempering the heat, if need- 
ful, by scattering ashes thinly over the coals; but 
remove the ashes for a final browning. When the 
squirrels are done, butter them and gash a little 
that the juices may flow. 

Rabbit, or Hare. — Remove the head; skin and 
draw, cut out the waxy glands under the front 
legs where they j oin the body ; soak in cold salted 
water for one hour; rinse in fresh cold water and 
wipe dry. 

For frying, select only young rabbits, or par- 
boil first with salt and pepper. Cut off legs at 
body joint, and cut the back into three pieces. 
Sprinkle with flour and fry brown on both sides. 
Remove rabbit to a dish kept hot over a few coals. 
Make a gravy as follows: Put into the pan a 
small onion previously parboiled and minced and 
add one cup boiling water. Stir in gradually one 
or two tablespoonfuls of browned flour; stir well, 
and let it boil one minute. Season with pepper, 
salt, and nutmeg. Pour it over the rabbit. 



GAME. 71 

To roast in reflector: cut as above, lay a slice 
of pork on each piece, and baste frequently. The 
rabbit may be roasted whole before the fire. 

To bake in an oven: stuff with a dressing made 
of bread crumbs, the heart and liver (previously 
parboiled in a small amount of water), some fat 
salt pork, and a small onion, all minced and mixed 
together, seasoned with pepper, salt, and nutmeg, 
and slightly moistened with the water in which 
heart and liver were parboiled. Sew up the open- 
ing closely; rub butter or dripping over rabbit, 
dredge with flour, lay thin slices of fat pork on 
back, and place it in j^an or Dutch oven, back 
uppermost. Pour into pan a pint or more of boil- 
ing water (or stock, if you have it), and bake 
with very moderate heat, one hour, basting every 
few minutes if in pan, but not if in Dutch oven. 
Prepare a gravy with the pot juice, as directed 
above. 

Rabbit is good stewed with onion, nutmeg, pep- 
per, and salt for seasoning. Also curried, after 
the manner already described. 

Rabbits are unfit to eat in late summer, as their 
backs are then infested with w^arbles, which are 
the larvae of the rabbit bot-fly. 

Possum. — To call our possum an opossum, out- 
side of a scientific treatise, is an affectation. Pos- 
sum is his name wherever he is known and hunted, 
this country over. He is not good until you have 
freezing weather; nor is he to be served without 
sweet potatoes, except in desperate extremity. 
This is how to serve "possum hot." — 

Stick him, and hang him up to bleed until morn- 
ing. A tub is half filled with hot water (not quite 
scalding) into which drop the possum and hold 
him by the tail until the hair will strip. Take 



72 CAMP COOKERY. 

him out. lay him on a plank^ and pull the hair 
out with your fingers. Draw^ clean^ and hang him 
up to freeze for two or three nights. Then place 
him in a 5 -gall on kettle of cold water, into which 
throw two pods of red pepper. Parboil for one 
hour in this pepper-water, which is then thrown 
out and the kettle refilled with fresh water, 
wherein he is boiled one hour. 

While this is going on, slice and steam some 
sweet potatoes. Take the possum out, place him 
in a large Dutch oven, sprinkle him with black 
pepper, salt, and a pinch or two of sage. A 
dash of lemon will do no harm. Pack sweet po- 
tatoes around him. Pour a pint of water into the 
oven, put the lid on, and see that it fits tightly. 
Bake slowly until brown and crisp. Serve hot, 
without gravy. Bourbon whiskey is the only 
orthodox accompaniment. If you are a teetotaler, 
any plantation darky can show jou how to make 
"ginger tea" out of ginger, molasses, and water. 
Corn bread, of course. 

It is said that jDossum is not hard to digest even 
when eaten cold, but the general verdict seems to 
be that none is ever left over to get cold. 

When you have no oven, roast the possum be- 
fore a high bed of coals, having suspended him by 
a wet string, which is twisted and untwisted to 
give a rotary motion, and constantly baste it with 
a sauce made from red pepper, salt, and vinegar. 

Possum may also be baked in clay, with his 
hide on. Stuif with stale bread and sage, plaster 
over him an inch of stiff clay, and bake as previ- 
ously directed. He will be done in about an hour. 

Coon. — It is likewise pedantic to call this ani- 
mal a raccoon. Coon he always has been, is now, 
and shall ever be, to those who know him best. 



GAME. 73 

Skin and dress him. Remove the "kernels" 
(scent glands) under each front leg and on either 
side of spine in small of back. Wash in cold 
water. Parboil in one or two waters, depending 
upon the animal's age. Stuff with dressing like a 
turkey. If you have a tart apple, quarter it and 
add to the dressing. Roast to a delicate brown. 
Serve with fried sweet potatoes. 

Porcupine. — I quote from Nessmuk: "And do 
not desjjise the fretful porcupine ; he is better than 
he looks. If you happen on a healthy young speci- 
men when you are needing meat, give him a show 
before condemning him. Shoot him humanely in 
the head, and dress him. It is easily done; there 
are no quills on the belly, and the skin peels as 
freely as a rabbit's. Take him to camp, parboil 
him for thirty minutes, and roast or broil him to 
a rich brown over a bed of glowing coals. He 
will need no pork to make him juicy, and you 
will find him very like spring lamb, only better." 

The porcupine may also be baked in clay, with- 
out skinning him; the quills and skin peel off with 
the hard clay covering. Or, fry quickly. 

As I have never eaten porcupine, I will do 
some more quoting — this time from Dr. Breck: 
"It may be either roasted or made into a stew, in 
the manner of hares, but must be parboiled at 
least a half-hour to be tender. One part of the 
porcupine is always a delicacy — the liver, which 
is easily removed by making a cut just under 
the neck into which the hand is thrust, and the 
liver pulled out. It may be fried with bacon, or 
baked slowly and carefully in the baker-pan with 
slices of bacon." 

Mushrat. — You may be driven to this, some 
day, and will then learn that muskrat, properly 



74 CAMP COOKERY. 

prepared, is not half bad. The French-Canadians 
found that out long ago. 

"Skin and clean carefully four muskrats, being 
particular not to rupture musk or gall sac. Take 
the hind legs and saddles, place in pot with a 
little water, a little julienne (or fresh vegetables, 
if you have them), some pepper and salt, and a 
few slices of pork or bacon. Simmer slowly over 
fire until half done. Remove to baker, place 
water from pot in the baking pan, and cook until 
done, basting frequently. This will be found a 
most toothsome dish." 

Muskrat may also be broiled over the hot coals, 
basting with a bit of pork held on a switch above 
the beastie. 

Woodchuch. — I asked old Uncle Bob Flowers, 
one -of my neighbors in the Smokies: "Did you, 
ever eat a woodchuck.^" 

"Reckon I don't know what them is." 

"Ground-hog," 

"O la! dozens of 'em. The red ones hain't 
good, but the gray ones! man, they'd jest make 
yer mouth water !" 

"How do you cook them.^*" 

"Cut the leetle red kernels out from under their" 
forelegs; then bile 'em, fust — all the strong is left 
in the water — then pepper 'em, and sage 'em, and 
put 'em in a pan, and bake 'em to a nice rich 
brown, and — then I don't want nobody there but 
me!" 

Beaver Tail. — This tid-bit of the old-time trap- 
pers will be tasted by few of our generation, 
more's the pity I Impale the tail on a sharp stick 
and broil over the coals for a few minutes. The 
rough, scaly hide will blister and come off in 
sheets, leaving the tail clean, white, and solid. 



GAME. 75 

Then roast;, or boil until tender. It is of a gela- 
tinous nature, tastes somewhat like pork, and is 
considered very strengthening food. A young 
beaver, stuffed and baked in its hide, is good; 
old ones have a peculiar flavor that is unpleasant 
to those not accustomed to such diet. 

Beaver tail may also be soused in vinegar, after 
boiling, or baked with beans. The liver, broiled 
on a stick and seasoned with butter, salt, and 
pepper, is the best part of the animal. 

BIRDS. 

Game Birds, Fried. — Birds for frying should 
be cut in convenient pieces, parboiled until tender 
in a pot with enough water to cover, then removed, 
saving the liquor. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and 
flour (this for the sake of the gravy), ^ fry in 
melted pork fat, take out when done, then stir 
into the frying fat one-half cuj^ful dry flour till a 
dark brown, add parboiling liquor, bring to a boil, 
put game in dish, and pour gravy over it, or serve 
with one of the sauces described below. 

Game Birds, Broiled. — Split them up the back, 
broil over the coals, and baste with a piece of 
pork on tined stick held over them. Fillets of 
ducks or other large birds may be sliced off and 
impaled on sticks with thin slices of pork. 

Game Birds, Fricasseed. — Any kind of bird may 
be fricasseed as follows: Cut it into convenient 
pieces, parboil them in enough water to cover; 
when tender, remove from the pot and drain. Fry 
two or three slices of pork until brown. Sprinkle 
the pieces of bird with salt, pepper, and flour, and 
fry to a dark brown in the pork fat. Take up 
the bird, and stir into the frying fat half a cup, 
more or less, of dry flour, stirring until it be- 



76 CAMP COOKERY. 

comes a dark brown; then pour over it the liquor 
in which the bird was boiled (unless it was a 
fish-eater), and bring the mixture to a boil. Put 
the bird in a hot dish, and pour gravy over it. 

Wild Turkey, Roasted. — Pluck, draw, and 
singe. Wipe the bird inside and out. Rub the 
inside with salt and red pepper. Stuff the crop 
cavity, then the body, with either of the dress- 
ings mentioned below, allowing room for the filling 
to swell. Tie a string around the neck, and sew 
up the body. Truss wings to body with wooden 
skewers. Pin thin slices of fat pork to breast in 
same way. Suspend the fowl before a high bed of 
hardwood coals, as previously described, and place 
a pan under it to catch drippings. Tie a clean 
rag on the end of a stick to baste with. Turn 
and baste frequently. Roast until well done (two 
to three hours). (See also page 53.) 

Meantime cleanse the gizzard, liver, and heart 
of the turkey thoroughly in cold water; mince 
them; put them in a pot with enough cold water 
to cover, and stew gently until tender; then place 
where they will keep warm until wanted. When 
the turkey is done, add the giblets with the water 
in which they were stewed to the drippings in 
pan; thicken with one or two tablespoonfuls of 
flour that has been stirred up in milk or water and 
browned in a pan; season with pepper and salt, 
and serve with the turkey. If you have butter, the 
fowl may be basted with it (melted, of course), 
and when stewing the giblets add a tablespoonful 
of butter and half a teacupful of evaporated milk. 

Stuffing for Turkey. — (1) If chestnuts are -pxo- 
curable, roast a quart of them, remove shells, and 
mash. Add a teaspoonful of salt, and some pep- 



GAME. 77 

per. Mix well together, and stuff the bird with 
them. 

(2) Chop some fat salt pork very fine; soak 
stale bread or crackers in hot water, mash smooth, 
and mix with the chopped pork. Season with 
salt, pepper, sage, and chopped onion. No game 
bird save the wild turkey should be stuffed, unless 
you deliberately wish to disguise the natural flavor. 

Wild Turkey, Boiled. — Pluck, draw, singe, wash 
inside with warm water, and wijDc dry. Cut off 
head and neck close to backbone, leaving enough 
skin to turn over the stuffing. Draw sinews from 
legs, and cut off feet just below joint of leg. 
Press legs into sides and skewer them firmly. 
Stuff breast as above. Put the bird into enough 
hot water to cover it. Remove scum as it rises. 
Boil gently one and one-half to two hours. Serve 
with giblet sauce as above. 

Waterfowl have two large oil glands in the tail, 
with which they oil their feathers. The oil in 
these glands imparts a strong, disagreeable flavor 
to the bird soon after it is killed. Hence the tail 
should always be removed before cooking. 

To cook a large bird in a hurry. — Slice off sev- 
eral fillets from the breast; impale them, with 
slices of pork, on a green switch; broil over the 
coals. 

Wild Goose, Roasted. — A good way to suspend 
a large bird before the fire is described by Dillon 
Wallace in his Lure of the Labrador Wild: 

George built a big fire — much bigger than usual. At 
the back he placed the largest green log he could find. 
Just in front of the fire, and at each side, he fixed 
a forked stake, and on these rested a cross-pole. From 
the center of the pole he suspended a piece of stout 
twine, which reached nearly to the ground, and tied the 
lower end into a noose. 

Then it was that the goose, nicely prepared for the 



78 CAMP COOKERY. 

cooking, was brought forth. Through it at the wings 
George stuck a sharp wooden pin, leaving the ends to 
protrude on each side. Through the legs he stuck a 
similar pin in a similar fashion. This being done, he 
slipped the noose at the end of the twine over the ends 
of one of the pins. And lo and behold! the goose was 
suspended before the fire. 

It hung low — ^just high enough to permit the placing 
of a dish under it to catch the gravy. Now and then 
George gave it a twirl so that none of its sides might 
have reason to complain at not receiving its share of 
the heat. The lower end roasted first; seeing which, 
George took the goose off, reversed it, and set it twirl- 
ing again. 

Time-tahle for Roasting Birds. — A goose or a 
middling-sized turkey takes about two hours to 
roast_, a large turkey three hours, a duck about 
forty-five minutes, a pheasant twenty to thirty min- 
utes, a woodcock or snipe fifteen to twenty min- 
utes. 

Wild Duch, Baked. — The bird should be dry- 
picked, and the head left on. Put a little pepper 
and salt inside the bird, but no other dressing. 
Lay the duck on its back in the bake-pan. Put 
no water in the pan. The oven must be hot, but 
not hot enough to burn ; test with the hand. Baste 
frequently with butter or bacon. A canvasback 
requires about thirty minutes ; other birds accord- 
ing to size. When done, the duck should be 
plump, and the flesh red, not blue. 

This is the way to bring out the distinctive 
flavor of a canvasback. Seasoning and stuffing de- 
stroy all that. A canvasback should not be 
washed either inside or outside, but wiped clean 
with a dry cloth. Duck should be served with 
currant jelly, if you have it. (See also page 55.) 

Wild Duck, Stewed. — Clean well and divide 
into convenient pieces (say, legs, wings, and four 
parts of body). Place in pot with enough cold 



GAME. 79 

water to cover. Add salt, pepper, a pinch of 
mixed herbs, and a dash of Worcestershire sauce. 
Cut up fine some onions and potatoes (carrots, too, 
if you can get them). Put a few of these in the 
pot so they may dissolve and add body to the dish 
(flour or corn starch may be substituted for thick- 
ening). Stew slowly, skim and stir frequently. 
In forty-five minutes add the rest of the carrots, 
and in fifteen minutes more add the rest of the 
onions and potatoes, also turnips, if you have any. 
Stew until meat is done. 

A plainer camp dish is to stew for an hour in 
water that has previously been boiled for an hour 
with pieces of salt pork. (See also page 59.) 

Fish-eating Ducks. — The rank taste of these can 
be neutralized, unless very strong, by baking with 
an onion inside. Use plenty of pepper, inside and 
out. 

Mud-hens and Bitterns. — Remove the breast of 
a coot or rail, cut slits in it, and in these stick thin 
slices of fat salt jDork; broil over the embers. The 
broiled breast of a young bittern is good. 

Grouse, Broiled. — Pluck and singe. Split down 
the back through the bone, and remove the trail. 
Wipe out with damp towel. Remove head and 
feet. Rub inside with pepper and salt. Flatten 
the breast, brush over with melted butter, or 
skewer bacon on upper side, and grill over a hot 
bed of coals. 

Grouse, Roasted. — Dress and draw, but do not 
split. Place a piece of bacon or pork inside, and 
skewer a piece to the breast. Roast before the 
fire as described for turkey, or in a reflector. 

Small Birds (quail, woodcock, snipe, plover, 
etc.). — These are good roasted before a big bed 
of coals, searing them first as in broiling meat. 



80 CAMP COOKERY. 

Impale each bird on a green stick, with a slice of 
bacon on the point of the stick over the bird. 
Thrust butt of stick into the ground, and incline 
stick toward the fire. Turn frequently. 

When a number of birds are to be roasted, a 
better way is to set up two forked stakes and a 
cross-pole before the fire. Hang birds from the 
pole, heads downward, by wet strings. Baste as 
recommended for turkey, and turn frequently. 
Serve very hot, without any sauce, unless it be 
plain melted butter and a slice of lemon. 

Such birds can also be served in a ragout. (See 
page 60.) 

Woodcock are not drawn. The trail shrivels up 
and is easily removed at table. 

SAUCES FOR GAME. (See also page 63.) 

Giblet Sauce. — See under Wild Turkey, 
Roasted. 

Celery Sauce. — Having none of the vegetable 
itself, use a teaspoonful of celery seed freshly 
powdered, or five drops of the essence of celery on 
a piece of sugar. Flavor some melted butter 
with this, add a little milk, and simmer ten min- 
utes. 

Cranberry Sauce. — Put a pound of ripe cran- 
berries in a kettle with just enough water to pre- 
vent burning. Stew to a pulp, stirring all the 
time. Then add syrup previously prepared by 
boiling a pound of sugar in 2/3 pint of water. 
Canned cranberries will answer. 

Curry Sauce. — This is used with stewed small 
game or meat (especially left-overs) that is served 
in combination with rice. (See page 69.) 

Put a large spoonful of butter in a pan over 
the fire; add one onion cut into slices; cook until 
the onion is lightly browned. Then stir in one 



GAME. 81 

teaspoonful of curry powder and add gradually a 
generous cup of brown gravy^ or soup stock, or 
the broth in which meat has been stewed, or 
evaporated milk slightly thinned. Boil fifteen 
minutes, and strain. Curry may be varied in- 
definitely by further flavoring with lemon juice, 
red pepper, nutmeg, mace, or Worcestershire 
sauce. 



CHAPTER VII. 
FISH AND SHELLFISH. 

FISH of the same species vary a great deal 
in quality according to the water in which 
they are caught. A black bass taken from 
one of the overflow lakes of the Mississippi bears 
no comparison with its brother from a swift, clear, 
spring-fed Ozark river. 

When it is necessary to eat fish caught in muddy 
streams, rub a little salt down the backbone, lay 
them in strong brine for a couple of hours before 
cooking, and serve with one of the sauces described 
farther on in this chapter. Carp should have the 
gills removed, as they are always muddy from 
burrowing. 

Never put fish on a stringer to keep in water 
till you start for home. It is slow death for them, 
like putting a cord through an animal's lung and 
letting him half smother, half bleed to death. If 
you have no live-box or net, kill and bleed every 
fish as soon as caught. The flesh will be much 
firmer and more palatable. 

Fish, Fried. — (See also page 50.) Small fish 
should be fried whole, with the backbone severed 
to prevent curling up; large fish should be cut 
into pieces, and ribs cut loose from backbone, 
so as to lie flat in pan. Rub the pieces in corn 
meal, or powdered crumbs, thinly and evenly (that 
browns them). Fry in plenty of very hot grease 

82 



FISH AND SHELLFISH. 83 

to a golden brown, sprinkling lightly with pepper 
and salt just as the color turns. If the fish is 
not naturally full-flavored, a few drops of lemon 
juice will improve it. 

Olive oil is best to fry fish in; the next choice 
is clear drippings or butter. If the fish has not 
been wiped dry it will absorb too much grease. 
If the frying fat is not very hot when fish are 
put in they will be soggy with it. 

Fish, Broiled. — (See also page 52.) If a broil- 
ing iron is used, first rub it with fat bacon to 
prevent fish from sticking to it. In broiling large 
fish, remove the head, split down the back instead 
of the belly, and lay on the broiler with strips of 
bacon or pork laid across. Broil over a rather 
moderate bed of coals so that the inside will cook 
done. Small fish are best broiled quickly over 
ardent coals. They need not have heads removed. 

When done, sprinkle with salt and pepper, 
spread with butter (unless you have used bacon), 
and hold again over fire until butter melts. 

Fish, Skewered. — Small fish may be skewered 
on a thin, straight, greenwood stick, sharpened at 
the end, with a thin slice of bacon or pork between 
every two fish, the stick being constantly turned 
over the coals like a spit, so that juices may not 
be lost. 

Another way is to cut some green hardwood 
sticks, about three feet long, forked at one end, 
and sharpen the tines. Lay a thin slice of 
pork inside each fish lengthwise, drive tines 
through fish and pork, letting them through be- 
tween ribs near backbone and on opposite sides of 
the latter — then the fish won't drop off as soon 
as it begins to soften and curl from the heat. 
Place a log lengthwise of edge of coals, lay broil- 



84 CAMP COOKERY. 

ing sticks on this support, slanting upward over 
the fire, and lay a small log over their butts. 
Large fish should be planked. 

Fish Roasted in a Reflector. — This process is 
simpler than baking, and superior in resulting 
flavor, since the fish is basted in its own juices, 
and is delicately browned by the direct action of 
the fire. The surface of the fish is lightly mois- 
tened with olive oil (first choice) or butter; lack- 
ing these, use drippings, or bacon grease, or lard. 
Then place the fish in the pan and add two or 
three morsels of grease around it. Roast in front 
of a good fire, just as yoii would bake biscuit. Be 
careful not to overroast and dry the fish by evapor- 
ating the gravy. There is no better way to cook 
a large fish, unless it be planked. 

Fish, Planlced. — More expeditious than baking, 
and better flavored. Split and smooth a slab of 
sweet hardwood two or three inches thick, two feet 
long, and somewhat wider than the opened fish. 
Prop it in front of a bed of coals till it is sizzling 
hot. Split the fish down the back its entire length, 
but do not cut through the belly skin. Clean and 
wipe it quite dry. When plank is hot, spread fish 
out like an opened book, tack it, skin side down, 
to the plank and prop before fire. Baste continu- 
ously with a bit of pork on a switch held above 
it. Reverse ends of plank from time to time. If 
the flesh is flaky when pierced with a fork, it is 
done. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the fish, 
moisten with drippings, and serve on the hot 
plank. No better dish ever was set before an 
epicure. Plenty of butter improves it at table. 

Fish, Stujfed and Baked. — Clean, remove fins, 
but leave on head and tail. Prepare a stuffing as 
follows: put a cupful of dry bread-crumbs in a 



FISH AND SHELLFISH. 85 

frying-pan over the fire with two tablespoonfuls of 
drippings, or the equivalent of butter, and stir 
them until they begin to brown. Then add enough 
boiling water to moisten them. Season this stuf- 
fing rather highly with salt, pepper, and either 
celery seed, or sage, or a teaspoonful of highly 
chopped onion. Stuff the fish with this and sew up 
the opening, or wind string several times around 
the fish. Lay several strips of salt pork or bacon 
in the pan, and several over the top of the fish. 
Sprinkle over all a little water, pepper, salt, and 
bread crumbs (or dredge with flour). Bake in a 
hot oven, basting frequently. When flakes of fish 
begin to separate, it will be done. This is best for 
coarse fish. 

Fish Baked in Clay. — "Take a fresh-caught fish 
and rub it in soft clay from the river bank, against 
the scales and gills. When the clay is set a little, 
roll the whole fish in a blanket of clay, till the 
body is completely covered. Dry in the heat of 
the fire for fifteen minutes; bury in the hot coals 
and ashes till the clay is hard. Rake the brick 
out of the fire and crack it open with the hatchet. 
The fish will split in two pieces; the spine can 
easily be taken out; the 'inwards' are shrunk to a 
little ball, which can be flipped off; and the scales 
are stuck on the clay. Dust on a little salt, and 
you have a meal fit for — a hungry hunter." 
{Frank Bates.) 

Fish, Steamed. — Smear some tissue Manila 
paper with butter. Clean the fish, leaving head 
and fins on. Season with salt and Cayenne pep- 
per. Roll each fish separately in a piece of the 
buttered paper. Place the fish in a pile and en- 
velop them in a large sheet of paper. Then wrap 
the bundle in a newspaper, and dip this in water 



86 CAMP COOKERY. 

for five minuteSj, or long enough to saturate the 
newspaper. Scrape a hole in the middle of a bed 
of coals^ and bury the package in the embers. 
Leave it there ten to twenty minutes, depending 
upon size. The newspaper will scorch, but the in- 
ner wrappers will not. The result is a dish fit for 
Olympus. (JJp De Graff.) 

Small fish can be steamed in wet basswood 
leaves, or other large leaves, without buttering. 
For another method of steaming, see page 60. 

Fish, Boiled. — None but fish of good size should 
be boiled. If the fish is started in cold water and 
not allowed to boil hard, it will be less likely to 
fall apart, but the flavor will not be so good. It 
is better to wrap the fish in a clean cloth and drop 
it into boiling water well salted. A tablespoonful 
of vinegar, or the juice of a lemon, improves the 
dish. Leave the head on, but remove the fins. 
Boil very gently until the flesh will easily part 
from the bones. Time depends on species; from 
eight to ten minutes per pound for thick fish, and 
five minutes for small ones. 

Boiled fish require considerable seasoning and a 
rich sauce, or at least melted butter, to accompany 
them. Besides vinegar or lemon, onions, carrots, 
cloves, etc., may be used in the water. Recipes 
for sauces follow. (See also pages 63 and 80.) 

Butter Sauce. — 

Q heaped tablespoonfuls butter. 
1 heaped tablespoonful flour. 
1 teaspoon ful salt. 
% teaspoonful pepper. 

Put the butter in a cold pan, and rub into it the 
flour, salt, and pepper, beating well. Then pour 
on a scant half-pint boiling water. Cook two min- 
utes. Use immediately. 



FISH AND SHELLFISH. 87 

White Sauce. — 

2 tablespoonfuls butter. 

2 heaped tablespoonfuls flour. 
1 pint milk. 

14 teaspoon ful salt. 
Ys teaspoonful pepper. 

Cook butter until it bubbles. Add flour, and 
cook thoroughly. Remove from direct heat of fire, 
but let it simmer, and add the milk in thirds, rub- 
bing into a smooth paste each time as it thickens. 
Season last. 

Cold fish that has been left over is good when 
heated in this sauce. It can be served thus, or 
baked and some chopped pickles sprinkled over 
the top. 

India Sauce. — Make a white sauce as above, add 
a teaspoonful of curry powder, and some pickles, 
chopped small, with a little of the vinegar. 

Lemon Sauce. — 
1 lemon. 

3 tablespoonfuls sugar. 
14 pint milk. 

1 scant tablespoonful butter. 

Put the milk, sugar, and thin rind of the lemon 
into a pan and simmer gently ten minutes. Then 
add the juice of the lemon and the butter rolled 
in flour. Stir until butter is dissolved and strain 
or pour off clear. 

Fish Chowder. — Cut the fish into pieces the 
right size for serving, and remove all the bones 
possible. For 5 or 6 lbs. of fish take % lb. clear 
fat salt pork, slice it, and fry moderately. Slice 
two good-sized onions and fry in the fat. Have 
ready ten potatoes pared and sliced. Into your 
largest pot place first a layer of fish, then one of 
potatoes, then some of the fried onion, with pep- 
per, salt, and a little flour, then a slice or two 
of the pork. Repeat these alternate layers until 



88 CAMP COOKERY. 

all has been used. Then pour the fat from the 
frying-pan over all. Cover the whole with boiling 
water^ and cook from twenty to thirty minutes, 
according to thickness of fish. Five or ten minutes 
before serving, split some hard crackers and dip 
them in cold water (or use stale bread or biscuits 
similarly), add them to the chowder, and pour 
in about a pint of hot milk. 

The advantage of first frying the pork and 
onion is that the fish need not then be cooked over- 
done, which is the case in chowders started with 
raw pork in the bottom of the kettle and boiled. 

Another Fish Chowder. — Clean the fish, parboil 
it, and reserve the water in which it was boiled. 
Place the dry pot on the fire; when it is hot, throw 
in a lump of butter and about six onions sliced 
finely. When the odor of onion arises, add the 
fish. Cover the pot closely for fish to absorb 
flavor. Add a very small quantity of potatoes, and 
some of the reserved broth. When cooked, let 
each man season his own dish. Ask a blessing and 
eat. (Kenealy.) 

Fish Cakes. — Take fish left over from a previous 
meal and either make some mashed potatoes (boil 
them, and mash with butter and milk) or use just 
the plain cold boiled potatoes. Remove bones from 
fish and mince it quite fine. Mix well, in propor- 
tion of one-third fish and two-thirds potato. Sea- 
son with salt and pepper. Then mix in thor- 
oughly a well-beaten egg or two (or equivalent of 
desiccated egg). If it seems too dry, add more 
egg. Form into flat cakes about 2^ x % inches, 
and fry with salt pork, or (preferably) in deep 
fat, like doughnuts. 

Fish, Creamed. — See page 98. A good way of 
utilizing fish left over. 



FISH AND SHELLFISH. 89 

Eel, Broiled. — Skin, clean well with salt to re^ 
move slime, slit down the back and remove bone, 
cut into good-sized pieces, rub inside with egg, 
if you have it, roll in corn meal or dry bread- 
crumbs, season with pepper and salt, and broil to 
a nice brown. Some like a dash of nutmeg with 
the seasoning. 

Eel, Stewed. — Skin the eel, remove backbone, 
and cut the eel into pieces about two inches long; 
cover these with water in the stew-pan, and add a 
teaspoonful of strong vinegar or a slice of lemon, 
cover stew-pan and boil moderately one half hour. 
Then remove, pour off water, drain, add fresh 
water and vinegar as before, and stew until tender. 
Now drain, add cream enough for a stew, season 
with pepper and salt (no butter), boil again for a 
few minutes, and serve on hot, dry toast. {Up 
De Graff.) 

Fish Roe. — Parboil (merely simmer) fifteen 
minutes; let them cool and drain; then roll in 
flour, and fry. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Frog Legs. — First after skinning, soak them an 
hour in cold water to whicli vinegar has been 
added, or put them for two minutes into scalding 
water that has vinegar in it. Drain, wipe dry, 
and cook as below: 

To fry: roll in flour seasoned with salt and pep- 
per and fry, not too rapidly, preferably in butter 
or oil. Water cress is a good relish with them. 

To grill: Prepare three tablespoonfuls melted 
butter, one-half teaspoonful salt, and a pinch or 
two of pepper, into which dip the frog legs, then 
roll in fresh bread crumbs, and broil for three 
minutes on each side. 



90 CAMP COOKERY. 

Turtles. — All turtles (aquatic) and most tor- 
toises (land) are good to eat_, the common snapper 
being far better than he looks. Kill by cutting 
throat or (readier) by shooting the head off. This 
does not kill the brute immediately, of course, but 
it suffices. The common way of killing by drop- 
ping a turtle into boiling water I do not like. Let 
the animal bleed. Then drop into a pot of boiling 
water for a few seconds. After scalding, the outer 
scales of shell, as well as the skin, are easily re 
moved. Turn turtle on its back, cut down middle 
of under shell from end to end, and then across. 
Throw away entrails, head, and claws. Salt and 
pepper it inside and out. Boil a short time in the 
shell. Remove when the meat has cooked free 
from the shell. Cut up the latter and boil slowly 
for three hours with some chopped onion. If a 
stew is preferred, add some salt pork cut into dice, 
and vegetables. (See page 59.) 

Crayfish. — These are the "craw-feesh !" of our 
streets. Tear oft" extreme end of tail, bringing the 
entrail with it. Boil whole in salted water till the 
crayfish turns red. Peel and eat as a lobster, 
dipping each crayfish at a time into a saucer of 
vinegar, pepper, and salt. 

SHELLFISH. 

Oysters, Stewed. — Oysters should not be 
pierced with a fork, but removed from the liquor 
with a spoon. Thoroughly drain the juice from a 
quart of shelled oysters. Add to the juice enough 
water (if needed) to make one-half pint. Place 
juice over fire, and add butter the size of a wal- 
nut. Remove all scum tliat arises when the juice 
boils. Put in the oysters. Let them cook quickly 
until the beards wrinkle, but not until oysters 



FISH AND SHELLFISH. 91 

shrivel — they should remain plump. Add two- 
thirds pint of milk, let all scald through, remove 
from fire, and season to taste. Never boil oysters 
in milk. 

Oysters, Fried. — Drain the oysters, and dry 
them on a soft cloth (then they will not absorb 
grease). Have some desiccated egg prepared, or 
beat light the yolks of two or three eggs. Have 
enough smoking hot grease in the pan to cover 
all the oysters. Dip an oyster into the egg, then 
into rolled cracker or dry crumbs, and repeat this. 
Lay oysters in the pan one at a time, so as not to 
check the heat. When one side is brown, turn, 
and brown the other side. Serve piping hot. 

Oysters, Scalloped. — Cover bottom of greased 
bake-pan with a layer of drained oysters, dot 
thickly over with small bits of butter, then cover 
with finely crumbled stale bread, and sprinkle with 
pepper and salt. Repeat these layers until the 
pan is full, with bread and butter for top layer. 
The bread crumbs miist be in very thin layers. 
Bake in reflector or oven until nicely browned. 

Oysters, Saute. — Drain the oysters. Melt a lit- 
tle butter in the frying-pan, and cook the oysters 
in it. Salt when removed from pan. 

Oysters, Roasted. — Put oysters unopened on 
broiler, and hold over the coals. When they open, 
put a little melted butter and some white pepper 
on each oyster, and they are ready. 

Clams, Baked. — Lay down a bed of stones in 
disk shape, and build a low wall almost around it, 
forming a rock oven open at the to^. Build a 
big fire in it and keep it going until the wood has 
burned down to embers and the stones are very 
hot. Rake out all smoking chunks. Throw a layer 
of sea-weed over the embers, and lay the clams 



92 CAMP COOKERY. 

on this. Roasting ears in the husks, or sweet po- 
tatoes, are a desirable addition. Cover all with 
another layer of sea-weed, and let steam about 
forty minutes, or until clams will slip in the shell. 
Uncover and serve with melted butter, pepper, 
salt, and perhaps lemon or vinegar. 

Clam Chowder. — Wash the clams, put them in a 
kettle, and pour over them just enough boiling 
water to cover them. When the shells open, pour 
off the liquor, saving it, cool the clams, and shell 
them. Fry two or three slices of pork in bot- 
tom of kettle. When it is done, pour over it two 
quarts of boiling clam liquor. Add six large pota- 
toes, sliced thin, and cook until nearly done. Turn 
in the clams, and a quart of hot milk. Season with 
salt and pepper. When this boils up, add crackers 
or stale bread, as in fish chowder. Remove from 
fire and let crackers steam in the covered pot un- 
til soft. 

Fried sliced onion and a can of tomatoes will 
Improve this chowder. Cloves, allspice, red pep- 
per, Worcestershire sauce, and other condiments, 
may be added according to taste. 

Shellfish, Steamed. — See page 60. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
CURED MEATS, ETC.— EGGS. 

BACON, Fried. — Slice quite thin. Remove the 
rind, as it not only is unsightly but makes 
the slices curl up in the pan. Put pan half 
full of water on fire; when water is warm, drop 
the bacon in, and stir around until water begins to 
simmer. Then remove bacon, throw out water, 
fry over very few coals, and turn often. Remove 
slices while still translucent, and season with 
pepper. They will turn crisp on cooling. Some 
prefer not to parboil. 

Bacon, Broiled. — Slice as above. Turn broiler 
repeatedly until bacon is of a light brown color. 
Time, three to four minutes. 

Bacon, Boiled, — Put in enough cold water to 
just cover. Bring to a boil very gradually. Re- 
move all scum as it arises. Simmer gently until 
thoroughly done. Two pounds take 1^ hours; 
each additional pound, % hour. 

Bacon, Toasted. — Cut cold boiled bacon into 
thin slices. Sprinkle each with fine bread crumbs 
peppered with Cayenne. Toast quickly in wire 
broiler. 

Bacon and Eggs. — Poach or fry the eggs and lay 
them on fried bacon. 

Bacon Omelet. — See Ham Omelet, near end of 
chapter. 

Bacon and Liver. — Fry bacon as above, and re- 

93 



94. CAMP COOKERY. 

move to a hot plate. Slice the liver (that of any 
large game animal) thin. Flour and pepper it 
and place it in the pan. Turn frequently until 
done; then place a slice of bacon on each slice of 
liver and pour over it a gravy made as follows: 

Bacon Gravy, Thin. — Pour off the fat and save 
it for future use. Pour in enough water to supply 
the quantity of gravy desired. Add the juice of a 
lemon. Boil and pour upon the bacon. If a 
richer gravy is desired, follow recipe given below. 

Pork Gravy, Thickened. — This can be made 
with ham or salt pork, as well as with bacon. To 
make gravy that is a good substitute for butter, 
rub into the hot grease that is left in the pan a 
tablespoonful of flour, keep on rubbing until 
smooth and brown; then add two cups boiling 
water and a dash of pepper. A tablespoonful of 
catchup may be added for v^ariety. If you have 
milk, use it instead of water (a pint to the heap- 
ing tablespoonful of flour), and do not let the 
flour brown; this makes a delicious white gravy. 

Salt Pork, Fried. — Same as fried bacon, above. 
Pork should be firm and dry. Clammy pork is 
stale. 

Salt Pork, Broiled. — Same as bacon; but it is 
usually so salty that it should be parboiled first, 
or soaked at least an hour in cold water. 

Salt Pork, Boiled. — Nearly always cooked with 
vegetables or greens; hence need not be soaked 
or parboiled. See page 58. 

Pork Fritters. — Make a thick batter of corn 
meal one- third and flour two-thirds, or of flour 
alone. Fry a few slices of pork until the fat is 
tried out. Then cut a few more slices, dip them 
in the batter, drop them in the bubbling fat, sea- 
son with salt and pepper, fry to a light brown. 



CURED MEATS, ETC.— EGGS. 95 

and eat while hot. It takes the stomach of a lum- 
berjack to digest this, but it is a favorite variant 
in frontier diet. 

Pork and Hardtack. — Soak hardtack in water 
until it is partly softened. Drop it into hot pork 
fat, and cook. A soldier's resource. 

Ham, Fried. — Same as bacon. Parboil, first, 
for eight or ten minutes, if hard and salty. 

Ham and Eggs. — Same as bacon and eggs. 

Ham, Broiled. — If salty, parboil first. Cut 
rather thick slices, pepper them, and broil five 
minutes. Ham that has been boiled is best for 
broiling. A little mustard may be spread on 
the slices when served. 

Ham, Boiled. — Wash the ham, and let it soak 
over night in cold water. In the morning, cover 
it well with fresh water, bring to a boil, and hang 
the kettle high over the fire where it will boil 
gently until dinner time. When the bone on the 
under side leaves the meat readily, the ham is done. 
If you have eggs, the nicest way to serve a boiled 
ham is to remove the skin, brush over the top of 
ham with yolk of egg, sprinkle thickly with finely 
grated crumbs or cracker-dust, and brown in an 
oven. 

Pork Sausages. — Cut links apart, prick each 
with a fork so it will not burst in cooking, lay in 
cold frying-pan, and fry fifteen to twenty minutes 
over a slow fire, moving them about so they will 
brown evenly all over. Serve with mashed po- 
tatoes, over which pour the fat from the pan. 
Apples fried to a light brown in the sausage grease 
are a pleasant accompaniment. 

Corned Beef, Boiled. — Put the ham into enough 
cold water to cover it. Let it come slowly to a 
boil, and then merely simmer until done. Time, 



96 CAMP COOKERY. 

about one-half hour to each pound. Vegetables 
may be added toward the end^ as directed on page 
58. If not to be used until the next day, leave 
the meat in its liquor, weighted down under the 
surface by a clean rock. 

Corned Beef Hash. — Chop some canned corned 
beef fine with sliced onions. Mash up with freshly 
boiled potatoes, two parts potatoes to one of meat. 
Season highly with pepper (no salt) and dry mus- 
tard if liked. Put a little pork fat in a frying- 
pan, melt, add hash, and cook until nearly dry 
and a brown crust has formed. Evaporated pota- 
toes and onions can be used according to directions 
on packages. 

Stew with Canned Meat. — Peel and slice some 
onions. If the meat has much fat, melt it; if not, 
melt a little pork fat. Add onions, and fry until 
brown. Mix some flour into a smooth batter with 
cold water, season with pepper and salt, and pour 
into the camp kettle. Stir the whole well together. 
Cut meat into slices, put into the kettle, and heat 
through. 

Lohscouse. — Boil corned beef as above (if very 
salty, parboil first, and then change the water). 
About thirty minutes before it is done add sliced 
potatoes and hardtack. 

Slumgullion. — When the commissariat is re- 
duced to bacon, corned beef, and hardtack, try this 
sailor's dish, described by Jack London: Fry half 
a dozen slices of bacon, add fragments of hard- 
tack, then two cups of water, and stir briskly over 
the fire; in a few minutes mix in with it slices 
of canned corned beef; season well with pepper 
and salt. 

Dried Beef, Creamed. — Slice 3 oz. of dried beef 
into thin shavings. Pour over it a pint of boil- 



CURED MEATS, ETC.— EGGS. 97 

ing water, and let it stand two minutes. Turn 
off water, and drain beef dry. Heat a heaped 
tablespoonful of butter in the frying-pan; then 
add the beef. Cook three minutes, stirring all the 
time. Then pour on 14 pi^* ^^^^ milk. Mix 4 
tablespoonfuls milk with 1 teaspoonful flour, and 
stir into the beef in the pan. Cook two minutes 
longer and serve at once. 

Canned Meats. — Never eat any that has been 
left standing open in the can. It is dangerous. 
If any has been left over, remove it to a clean 
vessel and keep in a cool place. 

CURED FISH. 

Salt Fish requires from twelve to thirty-six 
hours' soaking, flesh downward, in cold water be- 
fore -cooking, depending on the hardness and dry- 
ness of the fish. Change the water two or three 
times to remove surplus salt. Start in cold water, 
then, and boil until the flesh parts from the bones. 
When done, cover with bits of butter, or serve with 
one of the sauces given in the chapter on Fish. 

Broiled Salt Fish. — Freshen the flakes of fish 
by soaking in cold water. Broil over the coals, and 
serve with potatoes. 

Stewed Codfish. — Soak over night in plenty of 
cold water. Put in pot of fresh, cold water, and 
heat gradually until soft. Do not boil the fish 
or it will get hard. Serve with boiled potatoes, 
and with white sauce made as directed under Fish. 

Codfish Hash. — Prepare salt codfish as above. 
When soft, mash with potatoes and onions, season 
with pepper, and fry like corned beef hash. 

Codfish Balls. — Shred the fish into small pieces. 
Peel some potatoes. Use one pint of fish to one 
quart of raw potatoes. Put them in a pot, cover 



98 CAMP COOKERY. 

with boiling water^ cook till potatoes are soft, 
drain water off, mash fish and potatoes together, 
and beat light with a fork. Add a tablespoonf ul 
of butter and season with pepper. Shape into 
flattened balls, and fry in very hot fat deep enough 
to cover. 

Smoked Herrings. — (1) Clean, and remove the 
skin. Toast on a stick over the coals. 

(2) Scald in boiling water till the skin curls 
up, then remove head, tail, and skin. Clean well. 
Put into frying-pan with a little buttef or lard. 
Fry gently a few minutes, dropping in a little 
vinegar. 

Smoked Sprats. — Lay them on a slightly greased 
plate and set them in an oven until heated 
through. 

Canned Salmon, Creamed. — Cut into dice. Heat 
about a pint of them in one-half ^pint milk. Sea- 
son with salt and Cayenne pepper. Cold cooked 
fish of any kind can be served in this way. 

Canned Salmon, Scalloped. — Rub two teaspoon- 
fuls of butter and a tablespoonful of flour together. 
Stir this into boiling milk. Cut two pounds of 
canned salmon into dice. Put a layer of the sauce 
in bottom of a dish, then a layer of salmon. 
Sprinkle with salt, Cayenne pepper, and grated 
bread crumbs. Repeat alternate layers until dish 
is full, having the last layer sauce, which is sprin- 
kled with crumbs and bits of butter. Bake in very 
hot oven until browned (about ten minutes). 

Canned Salmon on Toast. — Dip slices of stale 
bread in smoking-hot lard. They will brown at 
once. Drain them. Heat a j^int of salmon, picked 
into flakes, season with salt and Cayenne, and turn 
into a cupful of melted butter. Heat in pan. 
Stir in one egg, beaten light, with three table- 



CURED MEATS, ETC.— EGGS. 99 

spoonfuls evaporated milk not thinned. Pour the 
mixture on the fried bread. 

Sardines, Fried. — Fry them and give them a 
dash of red pepper. They are better if wiped 
free of oil, dipped into whipped egg, sprinkled 
thickly with cracker crumbs, fried, and served 
on buttered toast. 

EGGS. 

Desiccated Egg. — The baker's egg mentioned in 
my first chapter is in granules about the size of 
coarse sand. It is prepared for use by first soak- 
ing about two hours in cold or one hour in luke- 
warm water. Hot water must not be used. Solu- 
tion can be quickened by occasional stirring. The 
proportion is one tablespoonful of egg to two of 
water, which is about the equivalent of one fresh 
egg. Use just like fresh eggs in baking, etc., and 
for scrambled eggs or omelets. Of course, the 
desiccated powder cannot be fried, boiled, or 
poached. 

Fried Eggs. — Have the frying-pan scrupulously 
clean. Put in it just enough butter, dripping, or 
other fat, to prevent the eggs sticking. Break 
eggs separately in a cup, and drop them, one at a 
time, into the pan when it is hot. The fire should 
be moderate. As the eggs fry, raise their edges 
and ladle a little of the grease over the yolk. In 
two or three minutes they will be done. Eggs fried 
longer than this, or on both sides, are leathery and 
unwholesome. 

Scrambled Eggs. — Put into a well-greased pan 
as many eggs as it will hold separately, each yolk 
being whole. When the whites have begun to set, 
stir from bottom of pan until done (buttery, not 
leathery). Add a piece of butter, pepper, and 



100 CAMP COOKERY. 

salt. Another way is to beat the eggs with a 
spoon. To eight eggs add one-third teaspoonful 
salt. Heat two tablespoonfuls butter in the fry- 
ing-pan. Stir in the eggs, and continue stirring 
until eggs set. Before they toughen_, turn them 
out promptly into a warm dish. 

Plain Omelet. — It is better to make two or 
three small omelets than to attempt one large one. 
Scrape the pan and wipe it dry after each omelet 
is made. Use little salt: it keeps the eggs from 
rising. Heat the fat in the pan very gradually, 
but get it hot almost to the browning point. 

Beat four eggs just enough to break them well. 
Add one-half teaspoonful of salt. Put two heaped 
teaspoonfuls of butter in the pan and heat as 
above. Pour egg into pan, and tilt the pan for- 
ward so that the egg flows to the far side. As 
soon as the egg begins to set, draw it up to the 
raised side of the pan with a knife. Beginning 
then at the left hand, turn the egg over in small 
folds until the lower part of the pan is reached, 
and the omelet has been rolled into a complete 
fold. Let the omelet rest a few seconds, and 
then turn out into a hot dish. Work rapidly 
throughout, so that the omelet is creamy instead 
of tough. It should be of a rich yellow color. 

Ham Omelet. — Cut raw ham into dice. Fry. 
Turn the beaten eggs over it and cook as above. 
Bacon can be used instead of ham. 

Fancy Omelets. — Take tender meat, game, fish, 
or vegetable, hash it fine, heat it in white sauce 
(see page 87), and spread this over the omelet 
before you begin to fold it; or they can be put in 
with the eggs. Jam, jelly, or preserved fruit may 
be used in a similar way. 

Rum Omelet. — Beat three eggs, add a very 



CURED MEATS, ETC.— EGGS. 101 

small pinch of salt^ a teaspoonful of powdered 
sugar, a slice of butter, and a tablespoonful of 
rum. Fry as described above. Lay the omelet 
on a hot dish, pour around it one-half tumblerful 
of rum that has been warmed in a pan, light it, 
and serve with its blue flame rising round it. 

Poached Eggs. — Put a pint of water in the fry- 
ing pan, with one-half teaspoonful of salt. If 
you have vinegar, add two teaspoonfuls to the 
water: it keeps the whites from running too much. 
Bring the water to a gentle boil. Break the eggs 
separately into a saucer and slide them into the 
water. Let the water simmer not longer than 
three minutes, meantime ladling spoonfuls of it 
over the yolks. Have toast already buttered on 
a very hot plate. Lay eggs carefully on it. Eat 
at once. This may be varied by moistening the 
toast with hot milk. 

Eggs, Boiled. — Eggs are boiled soft in two and 
one-half to three minutes, depending upon size 
and freshness. If wanted hard boiled, put them 
in cold water, bring to a boil, and keep it up for 
twenty minutes. The yolk will then be mealy 
and wholesome. Eggs boiled between these ex- 
tremes are either clammy or tough, and indiges- 
tible. 



CHAPTER IX. 
BREADSTUFFS AND CEREALS. 

WHEN men must bake for themselves they 
generally make biscuit, biscuit-loaf, flap- 
jacks, or corn bread. Bread leavened 
with yeast is either beyond their skill or too trou- 
blesome to make out of doors; so baking powder 
is the mainstay of the camp. Generally the batch 
is a failure. To paraphrase Tom Hood, 

Who has not met with camp-made bread. 
Rolled out of putty and weighted with lead? 

It need not be so. Just as good biscuit or 
johnny cake can be baked before a log fire in the 
woods as in a kitchen range. Bread making is a 
chemical process. Follow directions; pay close 
attention to details, as a chemist does, from build- 
ing the fire to testing the loaf with a sliver. It 
does require experience or a special knack to 
guess quantities accurately, but none at all to 
measure them. 

In general, biscuit or other small cakes should 
be baked quickly by ardent heat; large loaves re- 
quire a slow, even heat, so that the outside will 
not harden until the inside is nearly done. 

The way to bake in a reflector or in a "baker'* 
has been shown in the chapter on Meats. If you 
have neither of these utensils, there are other 
ways. 

102 



BREADSTUFFS AND CEREALS. 103 

Baking in a Frying-pan. — Grease or flour a fry- 
ing-pan and put a loaf in it. Rake some embers 
out in front of the fire and put pan on them just 
long enough to form a little crust on bottom of 
loaf. Then remove from embers, and, with a 
short forked stick, the stub of which will enter 
hole in end of handle, prop pan up before fire at 
such angle that top of loaf will be exposed to 
heat. Turn loaf now and then, both sidewise 
and upside down. When firm enough to keep its 
shape, remove it, prop it by itself before the fire 
to finish baking, and go on with a fresh loaf. A 
tin plate may be used in place of the frying-pan. 

Bahing on a Slab. — Heat a thick slab of non- 
resinous green wood until the sap simmers. Then 
proceed as with a frying-pan. 

Baking on a Stick. — Work dough into a ribbon 
two inches wide. Get a club of sweet green wood 
(birch, sassafras, maple), about two feet long 
and three inches thick, peel large end, sharpen 
the other and stick it . into ground, leaning to- 
ward fire. When sap simmers wind dough spirally 
around peeled end. Turn occasionally. Several 
sticks can be baking at once. Bread for one man's 
meal can be quickly baked on a peeled stick as 
thick as a broomstick^ holding over fire and turn- 
ing. 

Baking in the Ashes. — Build a good fire on a 
level bit of ground. When it has burned to coals 
and the ground has thoroughly heated, rake away 
the embers, lightly drop the loaf on the hot 
earth, pat it smooth, rake the embers back over 
the loaf, and let it bake until no dough will ad- 
here to a sliver thrust to the center of the loaf. 
This is the Australian damper. Ash cakes are 



104 CAMP COOKERY. 

similarly baked (see under Corn Bread). Nasty? 
No, it isn't; try it. 

Baking in a Hole. — Every fixed camp should 
have a bake-hole, if for nothing else than baking 
beans. The hole can be dug anywhere, but it is 
best in the side of a bank or knoll, so that an 
opening can be left in front to rake out of, and 
for drainage in case of rain. Line it with stones, 
if there are any. In any case, have the completed 
hole a little larger than your baking kettle. 

Build a hardwood fire in and above the hole 
and keep it going until the stones or earth are very 
hot (not less than half an hour). Rake out most 
of the coals and ashes, put in the bake-pot, which 
must have a tight-fitting lid, cover with ashes and 
then with live coals ; and, if a long heating is 
needed, keep a small fire going on top. Close 
the mouth of the oven with a fiat rock. This is 
the way for beans or for braising meat. 

Bread is not easily baked in a straight-sided 
pot (rather it is hard to get out when baked). 
A pan with flaring sides, well covered, is bet- 
ter. Two pudding pans that nest, the larger in- 
verted over the smaller, do very well. Have some 
ashes between them and the coals, to prevent 
burning the loaf. 

A shifty camper can bake bread in almost 
anything. I have baked beans in a thin, soldered, 
lard-pail, by first encasing it in clay. 

Baking in a Dutch Oven. — This is a cast-iron 
pot with flaring sides and short legs, fitted with 
a thick iron cover, the rim of which is turned 
up to hold a layer of coals on top. If it were 
not for its weight it would be the best oven for 
outdoor use, since it not only bakes but cooks 
the meat or pone in its own steam. The pots 



BREADSTUFFS AND CEREALS. 105 

made for fireless cookers can be used in a similar 
way. , 

Place the Dutch oven and its lid separately on 
the fire. Get the bottom moderately hot, and the 
lid very hot (but not red, lest it warp). Grease 
the bottom and sprinkle flour over it, put in the 
bread or biscuits, set cover on, rake a thin layer of 
coals out in front of the fire, stand oven on them, 
and cover lid thickly with more live coals. Re- 
plenish occasionally. Have a stout pot-hook to 
lift lid with, so you can inspect progress of baking, 
once or twice. 

WHEAT BREAD AND BISCUITS. 

When baking powder is used, the secret of good 
bread is to handle the dough as little as possible. 
After adding the water, mix as rapidly as you 
can, not with the warm hands, but with a big 
spoon or a wooden paddle. To knead such bread, 
or roll it much, or even to mould biscuits by hand 
instead of cutting them out, would surely make 
your baking "sad." As soon as water touches 
the flour, the baking powder begins to give off 
gas. It is this gas, imprisoned in the dough, that 
makes bread light. Squeezing or moulding presses, 
this gas out. The heat of the hands turns such 
dough into Tom Hood's "putty." 

Biscuit Loaf. — This is a standard camp bread, 
because it bakes quickly. It is good so long as it 
is hot, but it dries out soon and will not keep. 
For four men: 

3 pints flour, 

3 heaping teaspoonfuls baking powder, 

1 heaping teaspoonful salt, 

2 heaping tablespoonfuls cold grease, 
1 scant pint cold water. 

Amount of water varies according to quality of 



106 CAMP COOKERY. 

flour. Baking powders vary in strength; follow 
directions on can. 

Mix thoroughly, with big spoon or wooden pad- 
dle, first the baking powder with the flour, and 
then the salt. Rub into this the cold grease 
(which may be lard, cold pork fat, drippings, or 
bear's grease), until there are no lumps left and 
no grease adhering to bottom of pan. This is a 
little tedious, but don't shirk it. Then stir in the 
water and work it with spoon until you have a 
rather stiff dough. Have the pan greased. Turn 
the loaf into it, and bake. Test center of loaf 
with a sliver when you think it probably done. 
When no dough adheres, remove bread. All hot 
breads should be broken with the hands, never 
cut. 

To freshen any that is left over and dried out, 
sprinkle a little water over it and heat through. 
This can be done but once. 

Biscuit. — These are baked in a reflector (12- 
inch holds I dozen, 18-inch holds 1^2 dozen), un- 
less a camp stove is carried or an oven is dug. 
Build the fire high. Make dough as in the pre- 
ceding recipe, which is enough for two dozen bis- 
cuits. Flop the mass of dough to one side of pan, 
dust flour on bottom of pan, flop dough back 
over it, dust flour on top of loaf. Now rub some 
flour over the bread board, flour your hands, and 
gently lift loaf on board. Flour the bottle or bit 
of peeled sapling that you use as rolling-pin, also 
the edges of can or can cover used as biscuit 
cutter. Gently roll loaf to three-quarter-inch 
thickness. Stamp out the biscuit and lay them in 
pan. Roll out the culls and make biscuit of them, 
too. Bake until edge of front row turns brown; 
reverse pan and continue until rear row is simi- 



BREADSTUFFS AND CEREALS. 107 

larly done. Time, twenty to twenty-five min- 
utes in a reflector, ten to fifteen minutes in a closed 
oven. 

Dropped Biscuit. — These do away with bread- 
board, rolling-pin, and most of the work, yet are 
about as good as stamped biscuit. Use same 
projDortions as above, excejDt turn in enough water 
to make a thick hatter — one that will drop lazily 
from a spoon. In mixing, do not stir the batter 
more than necessary to smooth out all lumps. 
Drop from a big spoon into the greased bake-pan. 

Army Bread. — This is easier to make than bis- 
cuit dough, since there is no grease to rub in, but 
it takes longer to bake. It keeps fresh longer 
than yeast bread, does not dry up in a week, nor 
mould, and is more wholesome than biscuit. It 
is the only baking-powder bread I know of that is 
good to eat cold — in fact, it is best that way. 

1 quart flour, 

1 teaspoonful salt, 

1 tablespoonful sugar, 

2 heaped teaspoonfuls baking powder. 

Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly. Then stir 
in enough cold water (about II/2 pints) to make a 
thick batter that will pour out level. Mix rap- 
idly with spoon until smooth, and pour at once 
into bake-pan. Bake about forty-five minutes, or 
until no dough adheres to a sliver. Above quan- 
tity makes a 1%-pound loaf (say 9x5x3 inches). 

Breakfast Rolls. — 

1 quart flour, 

3 level tablespoon fuls butter, 

1 egg, 

1 teaspoonful baking powder, 

1 pint cold milk (or enough to make a soft dough). 

Rub butter and flour well together, add beaten 

egg, a pinch of salt, and the milk, till a soft dough 

is mixed. Form into rolls and bake quickly. 



108 CAMP COOKERY. 

Sour-dough Bread. — Mix a pail of batter from 
plain flour and water^ and hang it up in a warm 
place until the batter sours. Then add salt and 
soda (not baking powder), thicken with flour to 
a stiff dough, knead thoroughly, work into small 
loaves, and place them before the fire to rise. 
Then bake. 

Salt-rising Bread. — This smells to heaven while 
it is fermenting, but is a welcome change after a 
long diet of baking-powder breadstuffs. For a 
baking of two or three loaves take about a pint 
of moderately warm water (a pleasant heat to 
the hand) and stir into it as much flour as will 
make a good batter, not too thick. Add to this 
one-half teaspoonful salt, not more. Set the vessel 
in a pan of moderately warm water, within a little 
distance of a fire, or in sunlight. The water must 
not be allowed to cool much below the original 
heat, more warm water being added to pan as re- 
quired. 

In six to eight hours the whole will be in ac- 
tive fermentation, when the dough must be mixed 
with it, and as much warm water (milk, if you 
have it) as you require. Knead the mass till it is 
tough and does not stick to the board. Make up 
your loaves, and keep them warmly covered near 
the fire till they rise. They must be baked as 
soon as this second rising takes place; for, un- 
less the rising is used immediately on reaching 
its height, it sinks to rise no more. 

To Raise Bread in a Pot. — Set the dough to 
rise over a very few embers, keeping the pot 
turned as the loaf rises. When equally risen all 
around, put hot ashes under the pot and upon 
the lid, taking care that the heat be not too fierce 
at first. 



BREADSTUFFS AND CEREALS. 109 

Lungwort Bread. — On the bark of maples^ and 
sometimes of beeches and birches^ in the northern 
woods, there grows a green, broad-leaved lichen 
variously known as lungwort, liverwort, lung- 
lichen, and lung-moss, which is an excellent sub- 
stitute for yeast. This is an altogether different 
growth from the plants commonlj'^ called lung- 
wort and liverwort — I believe its scientific name 
is Sticta pulmonacea. This lichen is partly made 
up of fungus, which does the business of raising 
dough. Gather a little of it and steep it over 
night in lukewarm water, set near the embers, but 
not near enough to get overheated. In the morn- 
ing, pour oft' the infusion and mix it with enough 
flour to make a batter, beating it up with a spoon. 
Place this "sponge" in a warm can or pail, cover 
with a cloth, and set it near the fire to work. By 
evening it will have risen. Leaven your dough 
with this (saving some of the sponge for a future 
baking), let the bread rise before the fire that 
night, and by morning it will be ready to bake. 

It takes but little of the original sponge to 
leaven a large mass of dough (but see that it 
never freezes), and it can be kept good for months. 

Unleavened Bread. — Quickly made, wholesome, 
and good for a change. Keeps like hardtack. 

21/2 pints flour, 

1 tablespoonful salt, 

1 tablespoonful sugar. 

Mix with water to stiff dough, and knead and 
pull until lively. Roll out thin as a soda cracker, 
score with knife, and bake. Unleavened bread 
that is to be carried for a long time must be mixed 
with as little water as possible (merely dampened 
enough to make it adhere), for if any moisture 13 
left in it after baking, it will mould. 



no CAMP COOKERY. 

To Mix Dough Without a Pan. — When bark 
will peel, use a broad sheet of it (paper birch, 
basswood, poplar, cottonwood, slippery elm, etc.). 
It is easy to mix unleavened dough in the sack 
of flour itself. Stand the latter horizontally where 
it can't fall over. Scoop a bowl-shaped depres- 
sion in top of flour. Keep the right hand moving 
round while you pour in a little water at a time 
from a vessel held in the left. Sprinkle a little 
salt in. When a thick, adhesive dough has formed, 
lift this out and pat and work it into a round 
cake about 2^/2 inches thick. 

CORN BREAD. 

Plain corn bread, without flour, milk, or egg, 
is hard to make eatable without a Dutch oven to 
bake it in. Even so, it is generally spoiled by be- 
ing baked too fast and not long enough to be done 
inside. 

Johnny Cake. — 
1 quart meal, 
1 teaspoon fill salt, 

1 pint icarm (but not scalding) water (l^/^ pints 
for old meal). 

Stir together until light. Bake to a nice brown 
all around (about forty-five minutes), and let it 
sweat fifteen minutes longer in the closed oven, 
removed from the fire. , Yellow meal generally 
requires more water than white. Freshly ground 
meal is much better than old. 

Corn Dodgers. — Same as above, but mix to a 
stiff dough, and form into cylindrical dodgers four 
or five inches long and 1^ inches diameter, by 
rolling between the hands. Have frying-pan very 
hot, grease it a little, and put dodgers on as you 
roll them out. As soon as they have browned, put 
them in oven and bake thoroughly. 



BREADSTUFFS AND CEREALS. Ill 

Ash Cake. — Same kind of dough. Form it into 
balls as big as hen's eggs^ roll in dry flour, lay in 
hot ashes, and cover completely with them. 

Corn Bread (Superior). — 

1 pint corn meal, 

1 pint flour, 

3 tablespoon fuls sugar, 

2 heaped tablespoonfuls butter, 

3 teaspoonfuls baking powder, 

1 teaspoonful salt, 

2 eggs, 

1 pint (or more) milk. 

Rub butter and sugar together. Add the beaten 
eggs; then the milk. Sift the salt and baking 
powder into the meal and flour. Pour the liquid 
over the dry ingredients, beating well. Pour bat- 
ter into well-greased pan, and bake thirty to 
forty minutes in moderately hot oven. Can also 
be made into muflins. 

Corn Batter Bread. — 

1 pint corn meal, 

Q pints milk (or water), 

2 eggs, 

1 teaspoonful salt. 

Beat the eggs light; add the salt; then the meal 
and milk, gradually, until well blended. Bake 
about thirty minutes. This is the standard break- 
fast bread of the South, easily made, and (if the 
meal is freshly ground) delicious. A little boiled 
rice, or hominy grits, may be substituted for part 
of the meal. 

Snow Bread. — After a fall of light, feathery 

snow, superior corn bread may be made by stirring 

together 

1 quart corn meal, 

Yz teaspoonful soda, 

1 teaspoonful salt, 

1 tablespoonful lard. 



112 CAMP COOKERY. 

Then^ in a cool place where snow will not melt, 
stir into above one quart light snow. Bake about 
forty minutes in rather hot oven. Snow, for some 
unknown reason, has the same effect on bread 
as eggs have, two tablespoonfuls of snow equaling 
one egg. It can also be used in making batter 
for pancakes, or puddings, the batter being made 
rather thick, and the snow mixed with each cake 
just before putting in the pan. 

Substitute for Baking Soda. — Take the white 
of wood ashes, same quantity as you would use 
of soda, and mix dry with the flour. It makes 
bread rise the same as soda, and you can't tell 
the difference. The best ashes are those of hick- 
ory, dogwood, sugar maple, and corncobs ; beech, 
ash, buckeye, balsam poplar, and yellow poplar 
are also good. 

"Gritted Bread." — When green corn has be- 
come too hard for boiling, but is still too soft for 
grinding into meal, make a "gritter," as fol- 
lows: Take a piece of tin about 7x14 inches 
(unsolder a lard pail by heating, and flatten the 
sides) ; punch holes through it, close together, 
with a large nail; bend the sheet into a half cylin- 
der, rough side out, like a horseradish grater; 
nail the edges to a board somewhat longer and 
wider than the tin. Then, holding the ear of 
corn pointing lengthwise from you, grate it into a 
vessel held between the knees. 

The meal thus formed will need no water, but 
can be mixed in its own milk. Salt it, and bake 
quickly. The flavor of "gritted bread" is a blend 
of hot pone and roasting ears — delectable! Hard 
corn can be grated by first soaking the ears over 
night. 



BREADSTUFFS AND CEREALS. 113 

PANCAKES. 

Plain Flapjacks. — 

1 quart flour, 

1 teaspoonful salt, 

3 teaspoonfuls sugar, or 4 of molasses, 

2 level tablespoonfuls baking powder. 

Rub in^ dry, two heaped tablespoonfuls grease. 
If you have no grease, do without. Make a smooth 
batter with cold milk (best) or water — thin enough 
to pour from a spoon, but not too thin, or it 
will take all day to bake enough for the party. 
Stir well, to smooth out lumps. Set frying-pan 
level over thin bed of coals, get it quite hot, and 
grease with a piece of pork in split end of stick. 
Pan must be hot enough to make batter sizzle as 
it touches, and it should be polished. Pour from 
end of a big spoon successively enough batter to 
fill pan within one-half inch of rim. When cake 
is full of bubbles and edges have stiffened, shuffle 
pan to make sure that cake is free below and stiff 
enough to flip. Then hold pan slanting in front 
of and away from you, go through preliminary 
motion of flapping once or twice to get the swing, 
then flip boldly so cake will turn a somersault in 
the air, and catch it upside down. Beginners 
generally lack the nerve to toss high enough. 
Grease pan anew and stir batter every time before 
pouring. This is the "universal pancake" that 
Nessmuk derided. Much better and wholesomer 
are: 

Egg Pancakes. — Made same as above excepting 
that you add two eggs, or their equivalent in des- 
iccated egg. 

Snow Pancakes. — Instead of eggs, in the above 
recipe, use four tablespoonfuls of freshly fallen 
snow. Make the batter rather thick, and add 



114 CAMP COOKERY. 

some clean^ dry snow to each pancake before put- 
ting it in the pan. 

Mixed Cakes. — When cold boiled rice is left 
over, mix it half and half with flour, and proceed 
as with flapjacks. The batter is best mixed with 
the water in which the rice was boiled. Oatmeal, 
grits, or cold boiled potatoes, may be used in the 
same way. 

Corn Batter Cahes. — 

^ pint corn meal, 

14 pint flour, 

1 heaped teaspoonful baking powder, 

1 heaped teaspoonful sugar or 2 molasses, 

1 level teaspoonful salt. 

After mixing the dry ingredients thoroughly, 
add cold water, a little at a time, stirring briskly, 
until a rather thick batter results. Bake like flap- 
jacks. Wholesomer than plain flour flapjacks. 
These are better with an egg or two added, and 
if mixed with milk instead of water. Snow can be 
substituted for eggs, as described above. 

Buckwheat Cakes. — 

1 pint buckwheat flour, 
14 pint wheat flour, 

2 tablespoon fuls baking powder, 
% teaspoonful salt. 

Mix to a thin batter, preferably with milk. A 
couple of eggs make them light, or, make snow 
cakes. 

TOAST, FRITTERS, DUMPLINGS, ETC. 

Stale Bread. — Biscuit or bread left over and 
dried out can be freshened for an hour or two by 
dipping quickly in and out of water and placing 
in the baker until heated through; or, the biscuit 
may be cut open, slightly moistened, and toasted 
in a broiler. 

If you have eggs, make a French toast by di|)- 



BREADSTUFFS AND CEREALS. 115 

ping the slices in whipped eggs and frying them. 
With milk, make milk toast: heat the milk_, add 
a chunk of butter and son\e salt, toast the bread, 
and pour milk over it. 

Stale bread may also be dipped into smoking 
hot grease. It will brown immediately. Stand it 
edgewise to drain, then lay on hot plate. Cut into 
dice for soups. 

Fried Quoits. — Make dough as for biscuit. 
Plant a stick slanting in the ground near the fire. 
Have another small, clean stick ready, and a 
frying-pan of lard or butter heated sissing hot. 
There must be enough grease in the pan to drown 
the quoits. Take dough the size of a small hen's 
egg, flatten it between the hands, make a hole in 
the center like that of a doughnut, and quickly 
work it (the dough, not the hole) into a flat ring 
of about two inches inside diameter. Drop it flat 
into the hot grease, turn almost immediately, and 
in a few seconds it will be cooked. 

When of a light brown color, fish it out with 
your little stick and hang it on the slanting one 
before the fire to keep hot. If the grease is of 
the right temperature, the cooking of one quoit 
will occupy just the same time as the molding of 
another, and the product will be crisp and crump- 
ety. If the grease is not hot enough, a visit from 
your oldest grandmother may be expected before 
midnight. (Adapted from Lees and Clutter- 
buck.) 

Fritters. — A dainty variety is added to the 
camp bill-of-fare by fritters of fruit or vegetables, 
fish, flesh, or fowl. They are especially relished 
in cold weather, or when the butter supply is low. 
Being easily made and quickly cooked, they fit 
any time or place. 



116 CAMP COOKERY. 

The one essential of good and wholesome frit- 
ters is plenty of fat to fry them in^ and fat of 
the right temperature. (The best friture is equal 
parts of butter and lard.) Set the kettle where 
the fat will heat slowly until needed; then closer 
over the fire until a bluish smoke rises from the 
center of the kettle. Drop a cube of bread into 
it; if it turns golden-brown in one minute, the fat 
is right. Then keep the kettle at just this tem- 
perature. Make batter as follows: 
Fritter Batter. — 

1 pint flour, 

4 eggs, 

1 tablespoonful salt, 

1 pint water or milk, 

3 tablespoonfuls butter or other grease. 

Blend the salt and the yolks of the eggs (or 
desiccated egg). Rub the butter into this; then 
the flour, a little at a time; then the water. Beat 
well, and, if you have time, let it stand a while. 
If fresh eggs are used, now beat the whites to a 
stiff froth and stir them in. When using, drop 
even spoonfuls into the fat with a large spoon. 
When golden-brown, lift fritter out with a forked 
stick (not piercing), stand it up to drain, and 
serve very hot. The base may be almost any- 
thing: sliced fruit, minced game or meat, fish or 
shellfish, grated cheese, boiled rice, grated potato 
or green corn, etc. Anything cut to the size of 
an oyster is dipped in the batter and then fried; 
if minced or grated it is mixed with the batter. 
Jam is spread on bread, covered with another 
slice, the sandwich is cut into convenient pieces, 
and these are dipped in the batter. Plain fritters 
of batter alone are eaten with syrup. Those 
made of corn meal instead of flour (mixed with 
warm milk and egg) are particularly good. The 



BREADSTUFFS AND CEREALS. 117 

variety that can be served, even in camp, is well- 
nigh endless. 

Dumplings. — Those of biscuit dough have al- 
ready been mentioned. When specially prepared 
they may be made as follows: 

Yz pint flour, 

1 teaspoon ful baking powder, 

^ teaspoonful salt, 

% teaspoonful sugar, 

Yq pint milk. 

The stew that they are to be cooked with should 
be nearly done before the dumplings are started. 
Then mix the dry ingredients thoroughly. Wet 
with the milk and stir quickly into a smooth ball. 
Roll into a sheet three-quarters of an inch thick, 
and cut like biscuit. Meantime bring the stew to 
a sharp boil. Arrange dumplings on top of it, 
cover the vessel, and cook exactly ten minutes. 

MACARONI. 

Boiled Macaroni. — For one-half pound macaroni 

have not less than three quarts of salted water 

boiling rapidly. Break the macaroni into short 

pieces, and boil thirty-five minutes for the small, 

forty-five minutes for the large. Then drain, and 

pour sauce over it, or bake it. It is better if 

boiled in good broth instead of water. 

Tomato Sauce. — 

1 quart can tomatoes, 
1 tablespoonful butter, 
Q tablespoon fuls flour, 
1 teaspoonful salt, 
Ys teaspoonful pepper, 
1 teaspoonful sugar. 

Rub the flour into the butter until they blend. 
Brown this in a pan. Add the tomatoes and sim- 
mer thirty minutes. Stir frequently. Add the 
seasoning, along with spices, if you wish. This 



118 CAMP COOKERY. 

makes enough sauce for 1% pounds macaroni, 
but it keeps well in cold weather, and can be used 
with other dishes. Good in combination with the 
following : 

Macaroni with Cheese. — After the macaroni is 
boiled, put it in a pan with a little butter and 
some grated cheese. Stir gently, and as soon as 
the cheese is melted, serve; or, pour the above 
sauce over it. 

Macaroni, Baked.- — Boil first, as above. Drain. 
Place in a deep pan, add a cupful of cold milk, 
sprinkle in three tablespoonfuls grated cheese and 
one tablespoonful butter. Then bake until brown. 

PORRIDGE. 

Corn Meal Mush. — Mix two level tablespoon- 
fuls salt with one quart meal. Bring four quarts 
of water (for yellow meal, or half as much for 
fresh white meal) to a hard boil in a two-gallon 
kettle. Mix the salted meal with enough cold 
water to make a batter that will run from the 
spoon; this is to prevent it from getting lumpy. 
With a large spoon drop the batter into the boil- 
ing water, adding gradually, so that water will not 
fall below boiling point. Stir constantly for ten 
minutes. Then cover pot and hang it high enough 
above fire to insure against scorching. Cook thus 
for one hour, stirring occasionally, and thinning 
with boiling water if it gets too thick. 

Fried Mush. — This, as Father Izaak said of 
another dish, is "too good for any but very honest 
men." The only drawback to this gastronomic 
joy is that it takes a whole panful for one man. 
As it is rather slow to fry, let each man perform 
over the fire for himself. The mush should have 
been poured into a greased pan the previous even- 



BREADSTUFFS AND CEREALS. 119 

ing, and set in a cool place over night to harden. 
Cut into slices one-third of an inch thick, and fry 
in very hot grease until nicely browned. Eat 
with syrup, or au naturel. 

Polenta. — An Italian dish made from our na- 
tive corn and decidedly superior to plain boiled 
mush. Cook mush as above for one hour. Partly 
fill the bake-pan with it, and pour over it either 
a good brown gravy, or the tomato sauce described 
under macaroni. Then sprinkle with grated 
cheese. Set the pan in the oven three minutes, or 
in the reflector five minutes, to bake a little. 

Oatmeal Porridge. — Rolled oats may be cooked 
much more quickly than the old-fashioHcd oat- 
meal; the latter is not fit for the human stomach 
until it has been boiled as long as corn mush. To 
two quarts boiling water add one teaspoonful of 
salt, stir in gradually a pint of rolled oats, and 
boil ten minutes, stirring constantly, unless you 
have a double boiler. The latter may be extem- 
porized by setting a small kettle inside a larger 
one that contains some water. 

CEREALS. 

Rice, Boiled. — Good precedent to the contrary 
notwithstanding, I contend that there is but one 
way to boil rice, and that is this (which is de- 
scribed in the words of Captain Kenealy, whose 
Yachting Wrinkles is a book worth owning) : 

To cook rice so that each grain will be plump, 
dry, and separate, first, wash the measure of rice 
thoroughly in cold, salted water. Then put it in 
a pot of furiously boiling fresh water, no salt be- 
ing added. Keep the jDot boiling hard for twenty 
minutes, but do not stir. Then strain off the wa- 
ter, place the rice over a very moderate fire (hang 



120 CAMP COOKERY. 

high over camp-fire), and let it swell and dry for 
half an hour, in an uncovered vessel. Remem- 
ber that rice swells enormously in cooking. 

Rice, Fried. — When boiled rice is left over, 
spread it in a dish. When cold, cut it into cakes 
and fry it, for a hasty meal. It is better, though, 
in muffins. 

Rice Muffins. — Mash very smooth half a pint 
boiled rice. Add slowly, stirring to a thinner 
paste, half a pint of milk, three beaten eggs, salt. 
Then make into a stiff batter with flour. Bake 
like dropped biscuits. 

Risotto. — Fry a sliced onion brown in a table- 
spoonful of butter. Add to this a pint of hot 
water and half a pint of washed rice. Boil until 
soft, adding more hot water if needed. Heat half 
a pint canned tomatoes, and stir into it a teaspoon- 
ful of sugar. When the rice is soft, salt it; add 
the tomato; turn into a dish and sprinkle over it 
a heaped tablespoonful of grated cheese. 

Rice, Curried. — Same as Risotto, but put a tea- 
spoonful of curry powder in the tomatoes and omit 
cheese. 

Grits, Boiled. — Put in plenty of boiling unsalted 
water. Boil about thirty minutes ; then salt and 
drain. 

Grits, Fried. — Same as fried rice. 

^'Breakfast Foods.'' — According to directions 
on packages. 

Left-over Cereals. — See Mixed Cakes, page 114. 



CHAPTER X. 
VEGETABLES.— SOUPS. 

FRESH Vegetables. — Do not wash them until 
just before they are to be cooked or eaten. 
They lose flavor quickly after being 
washed. This is true even of potatoes. 

Fresh vegetables go into plenty of fast-boiling 
salted water. Salt prevents their absorbing too 
much water. The water should be boiling fast, 
and there should be plenty of it. They should 
be boiled rapidly, with the lid left off the pan. If 
the water is as hot as it should be, the effect is 
similar to that which we have noted in the case 
of meats: the surface is coagulated into a water- 
proof envelope which seals up the flavor instead 
of letting it be soaked out. In making soup, the 
rule is reversed. 

Dried Vegetables. — Beans and peas are to be 
cooked in unsalted water. If salted too soon they 
become leathery and difficult to cook. Put them 
in cold, fresh water, gradually heated to the boil- 
ing point, and boil slowly. 

Desiccated {dehydrated) Vegetables. — Follow 
directions on package. Desiccated potatoes of the 
ordinary kind require long soaking in cold water. 
Then put them in water slightly salted and pro- 
ceed as with fresh potatoes. They may need boil- 
ing in three waters. 

Canned Vegetables. — The liquor of canned peas, 

121 



122 CAMP COOKERY. 

string beans^ etc., is unfit for use and should be 
thrown away; this does not apply to tomatoes. 

Cleaning Vegetables. — To clear cabbage, etc., 
from insects, immerse them, stalk upward, in 
plenty of cold water salted in the proportion of 
a large tablespoonful to two quarts. Vinegar may 
be used instead of salt. Shake occasionally. The 
insects will sink to bottom of pan. 

Storing Vegetables. — To keep vegetables, put 
them in a cool, dry place (conditions similar to 
those of a good cellar). Keep each kind away 
from the other, or they will absorb each other's 
flavor. 

Potatoes, Boiled. — Pick them out as nearly as 
possible of one size, or some will boil to pieces 
before the others are done; if necessary, cut them 
to one size. Remove eyes and specks, and pare as 
thinly as possible, for the best of the potato lies 
just under the skin. As fast as pared, throw into 
cold water, and leave until wanted. Put in furi- 
ously boiling salted water, then hang kettle a little 
higher where it will boil moderately, but do not 
let it check. Test with a fork or sliver. When 
the tubers are done (about twenty minutes for 
new potatoes, thirty to forty minutes for old ones) 
drain off all the water, dust some salt over the 
potatoes (it absorbs the surface moisture), and 
let the pot stand uncovered close to the fire, shak- 
ing it gently once or twice, till the surface of each 
potato is dry and powdery. Never leave potatoes 
in the water after they are done; they become 
watery. 

Potatoes, Boiled in Their Jackets. — After wash- 
ing thoroughly, and gouging out the eyes, snip off 
a bit from each end of the potato; this gives a 
vent to the steam and keeps potatoes from burst- 



VEGETABLES.— SOUPS. 123 

ing open. I prefer to j)ut them in cold water 
and bring it gradually to a boil, because the skin 
of the potato contains an acid poison which is thus 
extracted. The water in which potatoes have been 
boiled will poison a dog. Of course we don't "eat 
'em skin and all/' like the people in the nursery- 
rhyme; but there is no use in driving the bitter- 
ness into a potato. Boil gently, but continuously, 
throw in a little salt now and then, drain, and dry 
before the fire. 

Potatoes, Steamed. — Old potatoes are better 
steamed. A rough-and-ready method is shown on 
page 60. 

Potatoes, Mashed. — After boiling, mash the po- 
tatoes with a peeled stub of sapling, or a bottle, 
and work into them some butter, if you have it, 
and milk. "The more you beat 'em, the better 
they be." Salt and pepper. 

Potato Cakes. — Mould some mashed potato into 
cakes, season, and fry in deep fat. Or add egg 
and bake them brown. 

Potatoes, Baked. — Nessmuk's description cannot 
be improved: "Scoop out a basin-like depression 
under the fore-stick, three or four inches deep, 
and large enough to hold the tubers when laid 
side by side ; fill • it with bright hardwood coals 
^nd keep up a strong heat for half an hour or 
more. Next, clean out the hollow, place the po- 
tatoes in it, and cover them with hot sand or ashes, 
top23ed with a heap of glowing coals, and keep 
up all the heat you like. In about forty minutes 
commence to try them with a sharpened hardwood 
sliver; when this will pass through them they are 
done and should be raked out at once. Run th^ 
sliver through them from end to end, to let the 



124 CAMP COOKERY. 

steam escape^ and use immediately, as a roast 
potato quickly becomes soggy and bitter." 

Potatoes, Fried. — Boiled or steamed potatoes 
that have been left over may be sliced one-quarter 
inch thick, and fried. 

Potatoes, Fried, Raw, — Peel, and slice into 
pieces half an inch thick. Drop into cold water 
until frying-pan is ready. Put enough grease in 
pan to completely immerse the potatoes, and get it 
very hot, as directed under Frying. Pour water 
off potatoes, dry a slice in a clean cloth, drop it 
into the sizzling fat, and so on, one slice at a 
time. Drying the slices avoids a splutter in the 
pan and helps to keep from absorbing grease. If 
many slices were dropped into the pan together, 
the heat would be checked and the potatoes would 
get soggy with grease. When the slices begin to 
turn a faint brown, salt the potatoes, pour off the 
grease at once, and brown a little in the dry pan. 
The outside of each slice will then be crisp and 
the insides white and deliciously mealy. 

Potatoes, Lyonnaise. — Fry one or more sliced 
onions until they are turning yellowish, then add 
sliced potatoes, previously boiled or steamed; keep 
tossing now and then until the potatoes are fried 
somewhat yellow; salt to taste. 

Potatoes, Stewed. — Cut cold boiled potatoes into 
dice, season with salt, pepper, butter, and stew 
gently in enough milk to cover them. Stir occa- 
sionally to prevent scorching. Or peel and slice 
some raw potatoes. Cover with boiling water and 
boil until tender. Pour off the water. Roll a 
large piece of butter in flour, heat some milk, beat 
these together until smooth, season with salt and* 
pepper, and bring to a boil. Then stew together 
five minutes. jServe very hot. 



VEGETABLES.— SOUPS. 125 

Sweet Potatoes, Boiled. — Use a kettle with lid. 
Select tubers of uniform size; wash; do not cut 
or break the skins. Put them in boiling water, 
and continue boiling until, when you pierce one 
with a fork, you find it just a little hard in the 
center. Drain by raising the cover only a trifle 
when kettle is tilted, so as to keep in as much 
steam as possible. Hang the kettle high over the 
fire, cover closely, and let steam ten minutes. 

Sweet Potatoes, Fried. — Skin the boiled potatoes 
and cut them lengthwise. Dust the slices with 
salt and pepper. Throw them into hot fat, brown- 
ing first one side, then the other. Serve very hot. 

Potatoes and Onions, Hashed. — Slice two pota- 
toes to one onion. Parboil together about fifteen 
minutes in salted water. Pour off water, and 
drain. Meantime be frying some bacon. When it 
is done, remove it to a hot side dish, turn the 
vegetables into the pan, and fry them to a light 
brown. Then fall to, and enjoy a good thing! 

Beans, Boiled. — Pick . out all defective beans, 
and wash the rest. It is best to soak the beans 
over night; but if time does not permit, add one- 
quarter teaspoonful of baking soda to the parboil- 
ing water. In either case, start in fresh cold 
water, and parboil one quart of beans (for four 
men with hearty appetites) for one-half hour, or 
until one will pop open when blown upon. At the 
same time parboil separately one pound fat salt 
pork. Remove scum from beans as it rises. Drain 
both ; place beans around the pork, add two quarts 
boiling water, and boil slowly for two hours, or 
until tender. Drain, and season with salt and 
pepper. 

It does not hurt beans to boil all day, provided 
boiling water is added from time to time, lest they 



126 CAMP COOKERY. 

get dry and sporch. The longer they boil the 
more digestible they become. 

Beans, Baked. — Soak and parboil^ as above, 
both the beans and the pork. Then pour off the 
water from the pork, gash the meat with a knife, 
spread half of it over the bottom of the kettle, 
drain the beans, pour them into the kettle, put the 
rest of pork on top, sj^rinkle not more than one- 
half teaspoonful of salt over the beans, pepper 
liberally, and if you have molasses, pour a table- 
spoonful over all; otherwise a tablespoonful of 
sugar. Hang the kettle high over the fire where 
it will not scorch, and bake at least two hours ; 
or, add enough boiling water to just cover the 
beans, place kettle in bake-hole as directed on 
page 56, and bake all night, being careful that 
there are not enough embers with the ashes to 
burn the beans. 

Baked beans are strong food, ideal for active 
men in cold weather. One can work harder and 
longer on pork and beans, without feeling hungry, 
than on any other food with which I am ac- 
quainted, save bear meat. The ingredients are 
compact and easy to transport; they keep indefi- 
nitely in any weather. But when one is only be- 
ginning camp life he should be careful not to over- 
load his stomach with beans, for they are rather 
indigestible until you have toned up your stomach 
by hearty exercise in the open air. 

Onions, Boiled. — More wholesome this way 
than fried or baked. Like potatoes, they should 
be of as uniform size as possible, for boiling. 
Do not boil them in an iron vessel. Put them in 
enough boiling salted water to cover them. Cover 
the kettle and boil gently, lest the onions break. 
They are cooked when a straw will pierce them 



VEGETABLES.— SOUPS. 127 

(about an hour). If you wish them mild, boil 
in two or three waters. When cooked, drain and 
season with butter or dripping, pepper, and salt. 
Boiled milk, thickened, is a good sauce. 

Green Corn. — If you happen to camp near a 
farm in the "roasting-ear" season, you are in great 
luck. The quickest way to roast an ear of corn 
is to cut off the butt of the ear closely, so that 
the pith of the cob is exj)osed, ream it out a little, 
impale the cob lengthwise on the end of a long 
hardwood stick, and turn over the coals. 

To bake in the ashes: remove one outer husk, 
stripping off the silk, break off about an inch 
of the silk end, and twist end of husks tightly 
down over the broken end. Then bake in the 
ashes and embers as directed for potatoes. Time, 
about one hour. 

To boil: prepare as above, but tie the ends of 
husks; this preserves the sweetness of the corn. 
Put in enough boiling salted water to cover the 
ears. Boil thirty minutes. Like potatoes, corn 
is injured by over-boiling. When cooked, cut off 
the butt and remove the shucks. 

Cold boiled corn may be cut from the cob and 
fried, or mixed with mashed potatoes and fried. 

Greens. — One who camps early in the season 
can add a toothsome dish, now and then, to his 
menu by gathering fresh greens in the woods and 
marshes.* 

As a salad (watercress, peppergrass, dandelion, 
wild mustard, sorrel, etc.) : wash in cold salted 
water, if necessary, although this abstracts some 
of the flavor; dry immediately and thoroughly. 



* Nearly a hundred edible wild plants, besides mush- 
rooms and fruits, are discussed in my Campinff and 
Woodcraft, Chap. XVII. 



128 CAMP COOKERY. 

Break into convenient pieces^ rejecting tough 
stems. Prepare a simple French dressing, thus; 

1 tablespoonful vinegar, 

3 tablespoon fuls best olive oil, 

% teaspoonful salt, 

14 teaspoonful black pepper. 

Put salt and pepper in bowl, gradually add oil, 
rubbing and mixing till salt is dissolved; then add 
by degl*ees the vinegar, stirring continuously one 
minute. In default of oil, use cream and melted 
butter; but plain vinegar, salt, and pepper will do. 
Pour the dressing over the salad, turn the latter 
"upside down, mix well, and serve. 

A scalded salad is prepared in camp by cutting 
bacon into small dice, frying, adding vinegar, 
pepper, and a little salt to the grease, and pour- 
ing this, scalding hot, over the greens. 

Greens may be boiled with salt pork, bacon, 
or other meat. To boil them separately: first soak 
in cold salted water for a few minutes, then drain 
well, and put into enough boiling salted water to 
cover, pressing them down until the pot is full. 
Cover, and boil steadily until tender, which may 
be from twenty minutes to an hour, depending 
upon kind of greens used. If the plants are a 
little older than they should be, parboil in water 
to which a little baking soda has been added; then 
drain, and continue boiling in plain water, salted. 

Some greens are improved by chopping fine 
after boiling, putting in hot frjdng-pan with a 
tablespoonful of butter and some salt and pepper, 
and stirring until thoroughly heated. 

Poke stalks are cooked like asparagus. They 
should not be over four inches long, and should 
show only a tuft of leaves at the top; if much 
older than this, they are unwholesome. Wash the 



VEGETABLES.— SOUPS. 129 

stalks, scrape them, and lay in cold water for 
an hour; then tie loosely in bundles, put in a ket- 
tle of boiling water, and boil three-fourths of an 
hour, or until tender; drain, lay on buttered toast, 
dust with pepper and salt, cover with melted but- 
ter, and serve. 

Jerusalem artichokes must be watched when 
boiling and removed as soon as tender; if left 
longer in tlie water they harden. 

Dock and sorrel may be cooked like spinach: 
pick over and wash, drain, shake, and j)ress out 
adhering water; put in kettle with one cup water, 
cover kettle, place over moderate fire, and steam 
thus twenty minutes; then drain, chop very fine, 
and heat in frying-pan as directed above. 

Mushrooms. — Every one who camps in summer 
should take with him a mushroom book, such as 
Gibson's, Atkinson's, or Nina Marshall's. (Such 
a book in pocket form, with colored illustrations, 
is a desideratum.) Follow recipes in book. Mush- 
rooms are very easy to prepare, cook quickly, and 
offer a great variety of flavors. 

All mushrooms on the following list are de- 
licious : 

Coprinus comatus. Lactarius volemus. 
Hypholoma appendiculatum. " deliciosus. 

Tricholoma personatum. Russula alutacea. 
Boletus subauretis. " virescens. 

" bovinus. Cantharellus cibarius. 

" sub sanguineous. Marasmius oreades. 

Clavaria botrytes. Hydnum repandum. 

" cinerea. " Caput-Medusce. 

" vermicularis. Morchella esculenta. 

" incequalis. " deliciosa. 

" pistillaris. 

Canned Tomatoes. — To a pint of tomatoes add 
butter twice the size of an egg, some pepper, very 
little salt, ^ttd a tablespoonful qi sugar. Boil 



ISO CAMP COOKERY. 

about five minutes. Put some bread crumbs or 
toast in a dish^ and pour tomatoes over them. But- 
ter can be omitted. Some do not like sugar in 
tomatoes. 

Canned Corn. — Same as tomatoes; but omit su- 
gar and bread. Add a cup of milk, if you have 
it. 

Miscellaneous Vegetables. — Since campers very 
seldom have any other fresh vegetables than po- 
tatoes and onions_, I will not take up space with 
special recipes for others. The following time- 
table may some time be useful: 

Boiling of Vegetables. 

Asparagus 20 to 25 minutes 

Cabbage 20 " 05 

Carrots 30 " 40 

Cauliflower 30 " 25 

Corn (green) 15 " 20 

Beans (string) 25 " 30 

Beans (Lima) 30 " 35 

Beans (navy, dried) x^i/g " 4 hours 

Beets 30 to 40 minutes 

Onions 30 " 40 

Parsnips 30 " 35 

Peas (green) 20 

Potatoes (new) 20 

Potatoes (old) 30 " 40 

Spinach 20 " 25 

Turnips ....30 " 35 

SOUPS. 

When Napoleon said that "soup makes the 
soldier/' he meant thick, substantial soup — soup 
that sticks to the ribs — nofr mere broths or meat 
extracts, which are fit only for invalids or to 
coax an indifferent stomach. "Soup," says Ness- 
muk, "requires time, and a solid basis of the right 
material. Venison is the basis, and the best ma- 
terial is the bloody part of the deer, where the 
bullet went through. We used to throw this away ; 



VEGETABLES.— SOUPS. 131 

we have learned better. Cut about four pounds 
of the bloody meat into convenient pieces, and 
wipe them as clean as possible with leaves jr a 
damp cloth, but don't wash them. Put the meat 
into a five-quart kettle nearly filled with water, 
and raise it to a lively boiling pitch." 

Here I must interfere. It is far better to bring 
the water gradually to a boil and then at once 
hang the kettle high over the fire where it will 
only keep up a moderate bubbling. There let it 
simmer at least two hours — better half a day. It 
is impossible to hasten the process. Furious boil- 
ing would ruin both the soup and the meat. 

Nessmuk continues: "Have ready a three-tined 
fork made from a branch of birch or beech, 
and with this test the meat from time to time; 
when it parts readily from the bones, slice in a 
large onion. Pare six large, smooth potatoes, cut 
five of them into quarters, and drop them into 
the kettle; scrape the sixth one into the soup for 
thickening. Season with salt and white pepper 
to taste. When, by skirmishing with the wooden 
fork, you can fish up bones with no meat on 
them, the soup is cooked, and the kettle may be 
set aside to cool." 

Any kind of game may be used in a similar 
way, provided that none but lean meat be used. 
Soup is improved by first soaking the chopped-up 
meat in cold water, and using this water to boil 
in thereafter. Soup should be skimmed for some 
time after it has started simmering, to remove 
grease and scum. 

To any one who knows petite marmite or poule- 
au-pot, these simple directions will seem barbarous 
— and so they are; but barbarism has its compen- 
sations. A really first-class soup cannot be made 



152 CAMP COOKERY. 

without a full day's previous preparation and the 
resources of a city grocery. Mulligatawny, for 
example, requires thirty-two varieties of spices 
and other condiments. No start can be made 
with any standard soup until one has a supply 
of "stock" made of veal or beef, mutton or poul- 
try, by long simmering and skimming and strain- 
ing. 

In camp, stock can be made expeditiously by 
cutting one or two pounds of venison into thin 
slices, then into dice, cover with cold water, boil 
gently twenty minutes, take from the fire, skim, 
and strain. A tolerable substitute is Liebig's beef 
extract dissolved in water. 

Onion, cloves, mace, celery seed, salt, and red 
or white pepper, are used for seasoning. Sassa- 
fras leaves, dried before the fire and powdered, 
make the gumbo file of the Creoles. Recipes for, 
a few simple, nourishing soups, are given below: 

Squirrel Soup. — Put the squirrels (not less than 
three) in a gallon of cold water, with a scant 
tablespoonful of salt. Cover the pot closely, bring 
to the bubbling point, and then simmer gently un- 
til the meat begins to be tender. Then add what- 
ever vegetables you have. When the meat has 
boiled to a rag, remove the bones. Thicken the 
soup with a piece of butter rubbed to a smooth 
paste in flour. Season to taste. 

Croutons for Soup. — Slice some stale bread half 
an inch thick, remove crust, and cut bread into 
half-inch dice. Fry these, a few at a time, in deep 
fat of the "blue smoke" temperature, until they 
are golden brown. Drain free from grease, and 
add to each plate of soup when serving. (See 
also page 114.) 

Tomato Soup, — Take a quart can of tomatoes 



VEGETABLES.— SOUPS. 133 

and a sliced onion. Stew twenty minutes. Mean- 
time boil a quart of milk. Rub to a paste two 
tablespoonfuls each of flour and butter, and add 
to the boiling milk, stirring until it thickens. Now 
season the tomatoes with a teaspoonful of sugar, a 
little salt, and pepper. Then stir into the toma- 
toes one-half teaspoonful baking soda (to keep 
milk from curdling), add the boiling milk, stir 
quickly, and serve. 

Bean Soup. — Boil with pork, as previously di- 
rected, until the beans are tender enough to crack 
open; then take out the pork and mash the beans 
into a paste. Return pork to kettle, add a cup 
of flour mixed thin with cold water, stirring it in 
slowly as the kettle simmers. Boil slowly an 
hour longer, stirring frequently so that it may not 
scorch. Season with little salt but plenty of 
pepper. 

Pea Soup. — Wash well one pint of split peas, 
cover with cold water, and let them soak over 
night. In the morning put them in a kettle with 
close-fitting cover. Pour over them three quarts 
cold water, adding one-half pound lean bacon or 
ham cut into dice, one teaspoonful salt, and some 
pepper. When the soup begins to boil, skim the 
froth from the surface. Cook slowly three to four 
hours, stirring occasionally till the peas are all dis- 
solved, and adding a little more boiling water to 
keep up the quantity as it boils away. Let it get 
quite thick. Just before serving, drop in small 
squares of toasted bread or biscuits, adding quickly 
while the bread is hot. Vegetables may be added 
one-half hour before the soup is done. 

Condensed Soups. — Follow directions on wrap- 
per. 

Skilligalee. — The best thing in a fixed camp is 



134 CAMP COOKERY. 

the stock-pot. A large covered pot pr enameled 
pail is reserved for this and nothing else. Into it 
go all the clean fag-ends of game — heads, tails, 
wings, feet, giblets, large bones — also the left- 
overs of fish, flesh, and fowl, of any and all sorts 
of vegetables, rice, or other cereals, macaroni, stale 
bread, everything edible except fat and grease. 
This pot is always kept hot. Its flavors are for- 
ever changing, but ever welcome. It is always 
ready, day or night, for the hungry varlet who 
missed connections or who wants a bite between 
meals. No cook who values his peace of mind 
will fail to have skilly simmering at all hours. 



CHAPTER XI. 
BEVERAGES AND DESSERTS. 

COFFEE.— To have coffee in perfection the 
berry must be freshly roasted and freshly 
ground. This can be done with frying- 
pan and pistol-butt; yet few but old-timers take 
the trouble. 

There are two ways of making good coffee in 
an ordinary pot. (1) Put coffee in pot with cold 
water (one heaped tablespoonful freshly ground 
to one pint, or more, if canned ground) and hang 
over fire. Watch it, and when water first begins 
to bubble, remove pot from fire and let it stand 
five minutes. Settle grounds with a tablespoonful 
of cold water poured down spout. Do not let 
the coffee boil. Boiling extracts the tannin, and 
drives off the volatile aroma which is the most 
precious gift of superior berries. (2) Bring wa- 
ter to hard boil, remove from fire, and quickly put 
coffee in. Cover tightly and let steep ten min- 
utes. A better way, when you have a seamless 
vessel that will stand dry heat, is to put coffee in, 
place over gentle fire to roast until aroma begins to 
rise, pour boiling water over the coffee, cover 
tightly, and set aside. 

Tea. — Pour boiling water over tea (one heaped 
teaspoonful tea to the pint), cover tightly, and 
steep away from fire four minutes hy the watch. 
Then, if you have no percolator, strain into sep- 

135 



136 CAMP COOKERY. 

arate vessel. If tea is left steeping more than 
five or six minutes the result is a liquor that will 
tan skin into leather. 

To boil tea is — well, it is like watering a rare 
vintage. You know what the old Colonel said: 
"My friend, if you put water in that wine, God'U 
never forgive you I" 

Chocolate. — For each quart of boiling water 
scrape up four tablespoonfuls of chocolate. Boil 
until dissolved. Then add half a pint milk. Stir 
with a peeled stick until milk has boiled up once. 
Let each man sweeten his own cup. 

DESSERTS. 

Dried Fruit. — Evaporated or dried apples, apri- 
cots, peaches, prunes, etc., are misprized, under- 
rated, by most people from not knowing how to 
prepare them. The common way is to put the 
fruit on to stew without previous soaking, and 
then boil from one-half hour to two hours until it 
is more or less pulpy. It is then flat and insipid, 
besides unattractive to the eye. 

There is a much better way. Soak the fruit 
at least over night, in clear cold water — just 
enough to cover. If time permits, soak it from 
twenty-four to thirty-six hours. This restores the 
fruit to its original size and flavor. It is good 
to eat, then, without cooking. To stew, merely 
simmer gently a few minutes in the water in which 
the fruit was soaked. This water carries much 
of the fruit's flavor, and is invaluable for sauce. 

California prunes prepared in this way need no 
sugar. Dried apples and peaches have none of 
the rank taste by which they are unfavorably 
known, but resemble the canned fruit. Apricots 
properly soaked are especially good. 



BEVERAGES AND DESSERTS. 137 

Jelly from Dried Fruit.— ^l was present when 
a Southern mountain woman did some "experi- 
encinV' with nothing to guide her but her own 
wits. The result was a discovery of prime value 
to us campers. Here are the details — any one can 
follow them: 

Wash one pound of evaporated apples (or com- 
mon sun-dried apples of the country) in two wa- 
ters. Cover with boiling water, and put them on 
to stew. Add boiling water as required to keep 
them covered. Cook until fruit is soft (about half 
an hour). Strain oif all the juice (cheesecloth is 
convenient), and measure it. There will be, prob- 
ably, a quart. Put this juice on the fire and add 
half its own measure of granulated sugar (say a 
scant pound— but measure it, to make sure of the 
proportion). 

Now boil this briskly in a broad, uncovered 
vessel, without stirring or skimming, until the 
juice gets syrupy. The time varies according to 
quality of fruit — generally about twenty minutes 
after coming to a full boil. When the thickened 
juice begins to "flop," test it by letting a few 
drops drip from a spoon. When the drops thicken 
and adhere to the spoon, the syrup is done. There 
will be a little more than a pint. Pour it out. 
As soon as it cools it will be jelly, as good as if 
made from fresh fruit and much better than what 
is commonly sold in the stores. 

The apples remaining can be spiced and used 
as sauce, or made into pies or turnovers, or into 
apple butter by beating smooth, adding a tea- 
cupful of sugar, spicing, and cooking again for 
fifteen or twenty minutes. 

If preferred, a second run of jelly can be made 
from the same apples. Cover again with boil- 



1S8 CAMP COOKERY. 

ing water, stew about fifteen minutes, add sugar 
by measure, as before. This will take less boiling 
than the first juice (about seven minutes). 
Enough jelly will result to make nearly or quite 
a quart, all told, from one pound of dried apples 
and about one and one-half pounds of sugar. 

Apricots or any other tart dried fruit can be 
used instead of apples. Sweet fruit will not do, 
unless lemon juice or real apple vinegar is added. 

Wild Fruits. — American wild fruits ripen as 
follows ; 

May — June. 
Chickasaw Plum (to July). 
Wild Strawberries. 

June — July. 
Woolly-leaved Buckthorn. 
Dewberry. 

Service-berry (June-berry). 
Shad-bush. 

July. 
May Apple. 

July — A ugust. 
Blackberries (some in Sep.). 
Bilberries. 
Blueberries. 
Huckleberries. 
Buffalo-berry. 
Choke Cherry. 
Wild Black Currant. 
Wild Gooseberries. 
Riverside Grape (to Oct.). 
Wild Raspberries (to Sep.). 
Salmon-berry. 
Silver-berry. 

August* 
Sand Cherry. 
Western Wild Cherry. 
Wild Red Cherry. 
Elderberry. 
Sand Grape. 
Canada Plum. 
Porter's Plum. 



Barberry. 
Cranberries. 



August — Ssptembtr, 



BEVERAGES AND DESSERTS. 139 

Wild Black Cherry. 

Fox Grape. 

Wild Red Plum (to Oct.). 

Snowberry. 

September, 
Carolina Buckthorn. 

September — October, 
Wild Crab-apples. 
Summer Grape. 
Haws. 

Beach Plum. 
Wild Goose Plum. 
Large-fruited Thorn. 
Scarlet Thorn. 

October. 
Missouri Grape. 
Black Thorn. 



Frost Grape. 



October — November. 

Edible After Frost. 
Pawpaw. 
Persimmon. I 

Pie. — It is not to be presumed that a mere male 
camper can make a good pie-crust in the regular 
way; but it is easy to make a wholesome and very 
fair pie-crust in an irregular way, which is as 
follows: Make a glorified biscuit dough by mix- 
ing thoroughly 1 pint flour, 1 teaspoonful baking 
powder, % teaspoonful salt, rubbing in 4 heaped 
tablespoonfuls of lard (better still, half-and-half 
of butter and lard), and making into a soft dough 
with cold water. In doing this, observe the rules 
given under Biscuit. The above quantity is 
enough for a pie filling an 8x12 reflector pan. 
Roll the dough into a thin sheet, as thin as you 
can handle, and do the rolling as gently as you 
can. 

From this sheet cut a piece large enough for 
bottom crust and lay it in the greased pan. The 
sheet should be big enough to lap over edge of 
pan. Into this put your fruit (dried fruit ig 



140 CAMP COOKERY. 

previously stewed and mashed), and add sugar 
and spice to taste. Then, with great circumspec- 
tion and becoming reverence, lay on top of all this 
your upper crust. Now, with your thumb, press 
the edges of upper and lower crust together all 
around, your thumb-prints leaving scallops around 
the edge. Trim off by running a knife around 
edge of pan. Then prick a number of small slits 
in the top crust, here and there, to give a vent 
to the stem when the fruit boils. Bake as you 
would biscuits. 

Note that this dough contains baking powder, 
and that it will swell. Don't give the thing a 
name until it is baked; then, if you have made the 
crust too thick for a pie, call it a cobbler, or a 
shortcake, and the boys, instead of laughing at 
you, will ask for more. 

Doughnuts. — Mix 1 quart of flour with 1 tea- 
spoonful of salt, 1 tablespoonful of baking pow- 
der, and 1 pint of granulated sugar, and I/2 nut- 
meg grated. Make a batter of this with 4 beaten 
eggs and enough milk to make smooth. Beat thor- 
oughly and add enough flour to make a soft 
dough. Roll out into a sheet ^ inch thick and 
cut into rings or strips, which may be twisted into 
shape. Fry in very hot fat; turn when neces- 
sary. Drain and serve hot. 

Suits und Knepp. — This is a Pennsylvania- 
Dutch dish, and a good one for campers. Take 
some dried apples and soak them over night. Boil 
until tender. Prepare knepp as directed for pot- 
pie dough, only make a thick batter of it instead 
of a dough. It is best to add an egg and use 
no shortening. Drop the batter into the pan of 
stewing apples, a large spoonful at a time, not 
fast enough to check the boiling. Boil about ^ 



BEVERAGES AND DESSERTS. 141 

hour. Season with butter, sugar, and cinnamon. 

Fruit Cobbler. — Make up your dough as di- 
rected under Pie, excepting omit baking powder, 
and use % pound of mixed butter and lard to 2 
pints flour. Mix with coldest spring water, and 
have your hands cold. After putting under crust 
in greased pan, pour in scant S pints of fruit, 
which may be either fresh, canned, or evaporated 
(soaked as explained under Dried Fruits), leav- 
ing out the free juice. Cover with upper crust, 
bake brown, and serve with milk or pudding 
sauce. 

Puddings are either baked in an oven or re- 
flector, or boiled in a cloth bag. Baked puddings 
are quickest and easiest to manage. A few ex- 
amples of simple puddings are given below. They 
may be varied indefinitely, according to materials 
available. Deep tin pudding pans are convenient 
to bake in. Snow may be substituted for eggs 
(see page 111). 

Rice Pudding. — Mix 1 pint cold boiled rice with 
1 quart milk and sugar to taste. Put in a well- 
greased pan, dust nutmeg or cinnamon over the 
top, and bake slowly one hour. Seeded raisins 
are an agreeable addition, and a couple of eggs 
make the pudding richer. Mix them in before 
baking. To stone them, keep them in lukewarm 
water during the process. 

Fruit Pudding. — Line a deep dish or pan, well 
greased, with slices of buttered bread. Then put 
in a layer of fruit, dusting it with sugar and 
dotting with small lumps of butter. Repeat these 
alternate layers until the dish is full, the last 
layer being bread. Bake % to % hour, with 
moderate heat. Eat hot, with the sweet sauce 
given below. 



142 CAMP COOKERY. 

Cottage Pudding. — 
1 pint flour, 
y^ pint sugar, 
Yz pint milk, 
3 heaped tablespoonfuls butter, 

1 egg, 

2 teaspoonfuls baking powder, 
Grated rind of a lemon. 

Mix thoroughly the flour and baking powder. 
Rub the butter and sugar to a cream, add the 
milk and egg beaten together; then the lemon 
rind. Add this to the flour and mix well. But- 
ter a pan well to prevent scorching and dredge it 
with flour or powdered bread-crumbs. Pour in 
the batter, and bake about half an hour in hot 
oven. 

A richer pudding is made by using one-half 
pound butter and two eggs. 

A cupful of stoned raisins, minced figs, or dates, 
added to the batter, converts this into a good fruit 
pudding. Nutmeg, cinnamon, or other flavoring 
may be substituted for lemon. 

Batter Pudding. — 
Yz pint flour, 
1 pint milk, 

1 heaped tablespoonful butter, 
6 eggs. 

Beat flour and milk into a smooth batter. Then 
add the eggs, beaten light. Stir all well together, 
adding the butter in tiny lumps. Dip a clean 
cloth bag into hot water, dredge it with flour, 
pour the batter into this, tie up firmly, and put 
into plenty of boiling water. Keep this boiling 
steadily for an hour. Then dip the bag quickly 
in cold water and remove cloth with care not to 
break the pudding. Serve very hot, with a 
sauce. 



BEVERAGES AND DESSERTS. 143 

Plain Plum Duff. — 
1 quart flour, 

1 heaped teaspoonful baking powder, 

2 tablespoon fuls sugar, 
1 lb. seeded raisins. 

% R>. suet (or see below). 

Venison suet chopped fine, or the fat of salt 
pork minced up, will serve. Marrow is better than 
either. Mix the dry ingredients intimately. Then 
make up with half a pint of water. Put this into 
a cloth bag prepared as in the preceding recipe. 
Since suet puddings swell considerably, the bag 
must be large enough to allow for this. Place in 
enough boiling water to cover, and do not let it 
check boiling until done (about two hours). Add 
boiling water as required to keep the bag cov- 
ered. Turn the bag upside down when pudding 
begins to set, or the fruit will all go to the bot- 
tom; turn it around now and then to prevent 
scorching against sides of pot. When done, 
manipulate it like cottage pudding. Serve with 
sweet sauce. 

A richer duff can be made by spicing and add- 
ing molasses, or the rind and juice of a lemon. 

Sweet Sauce for Puddings. — Melt a little but- 
ter, sweeten it to taste, and flavor with grated 
lemon rind, nutmeg, or cinnamon. 

Brandy Sauce. — Butter twice the size of an egg 
is to be beaten to a cream with a pint of sugar 
and a tablespoonful of flour. Add a gill of 
brandy. Set the cup in a dish of boiling water 
and beat until the sauce froths. 

Fruit Sauce. — Boil almost any fresh fruit un- 
til it is quite soft. Squeeze it through cheese- 
cloth, sweeten to taste, heat it, and pour the 
sauce over your pudding. Spices may be added 
during the final heating. 



APPENDIX. 



COOK S MEASURES. 

45 drops water=l teaspoonful=l fluidram. 
2 teaspoonfuls=l dessertspoonful. 
4 teaspoonfuls=:l tablespoonful. 
2 tablespoonfuls=l fluidounce. 
4 tablespoonfuls=l wineglassful. 
8 tablespoonfuls=l gill. 
2 gills=l cup. 

4 gills=l pint (1 lb. water). 
2 pints=l quart (1 lb. flour). 
4 quarts=l gallon. 
2 gallons (dry)=l peck. 
4 pecks (dry)=l bushel. 

outfitter's data. 

Baking powder 1 lb.=li4 pints. 

Beans, dried 1 qt.=l % ft»s. 

CoflFee, roasted whole 1 qt.=10 oz. 

Corn meal 1 qt.=:li4 ^s. 

Flour 1 qt.=l lb. 

Macaroni 1 lb.=8%x23/gx23/8 in. 

Oatmeal 1 qt.=% lb. 

Peas, split 1 qt.=l% lbs. 

Rice 1 qt.=2 lbs. 

Salt, dry 1 qt.=l% ^s. 

Soda crackers are about 3 times as bulky as bread, 
weight for weight. 

144 



APPENDIX. 



145 



Sugar, granulated 

Tea 

Bacon, breakfast 

Salt pork 

Salt pork 

Butter, closely packed.. 

Butter, creamery 

Eggs, desiccated 

Eggs, fresh 

Lard 

Lard 

Milk, evaporated 

Milk, evaporated 

Milk, evaporated 

Apples, evaporated 

Apples, evaporated 

Corn, canned 

Fruit, canned, small can, 
Fruit, canned, large can, 

Tomatoes, canned 

Lemons 

Raisins, stemmed 

Carrots 

Onions 

Potatoes 

Sweet Potatoes 



1 qt.=l3^ lbs. 
1 qt.=y2 lb. 

1 fiitch=:5-8 lbs., average. 
1 side=30-40 lbs,, average. 
1 belly:=20 lbs., average. 
1 lb.=l pint. 
1 ib.=:4%x2y2x2y2 in. 
1 Ib.=:6x3x3 in.=4 doz. fresh. 
10 medium or 8 large=l lb. 
3 lb. pail=:5x5 in. 
5 K). pail=6x6 in. 
7 oz. can=2i4x2y2 in. 
12 oz. can=:3%x3 in. 
1 lb. can=4%x3 in. 
1 lb. (14 oz.)=r:7y8x4y3x2 in. 
1 peck=:6 lbs. 

1 can=:2l^ lbs.=4%x33/8 in. 
same as corn, 
same as tomatoes. 
.1 can=:2l^ Ibs.=4ygx4i4 in. 
.1 doz.=:2 lbs.^=2 qts. 
, 1 ib.=:iy3 pints. 
.1 qt.=iy4 lb. 
1 qt.=rl lb. 
.1 peck=15 lbs. 
1 peck=14 lbs. 



THE END. 



INDEX. 

Acids 11 

"Aluminol" 25 

Aluminum ware 32 

Army bread 107 

Artichokes, Jerusalem 129 

Ash cake 103, 111 

Asparagus 130 

Bacon, 6; and eggs, 93; and liver, 93; Boiled, 93; 

Broiled, 93; Fried, 93; omelet, 100; Toasted.. 93 

Bakers 23, 24, 27 

Baking bread, 103; fish, 84; fowl, 76, 78; in a 

hole, 56, 103; in a pot, 104; in clay, 56, 72, 

85; in Dutch oven, 104; in embers, 57, 103; 

in frying-pan, 103; in the hide, 56; meat, 55; 

on a slab, 103 ; on a stick 103 

Baking powder 5 

Barbecuing 55, 69 

Batter, bread. 111 ; cakes, 114; Fritter 116 

Bean soup 133 

Beans, 9; Baked, 126; Boiled, 125; Canned, 9; 

Lima, 130; String 130 

Bear, Braised, 55 ; To skin 41 

Bear's oil 41 

Beaver tail 74 

Beef, Dried. See Dried Beef; extract, 6, 62; 

Corned. See Corned Beef. 

Beets 130 

Beverages 135 

Birds, Small game, 79; Time-table for roasting, 78; 

To cook, 75, 77; To keep 47 

Biscuit, 106 ; Dropped, 107 ; loaf 105 

Bittern "^9 

Blow-flies 4.1* ^6 

Boiling, 58, 62 ; at high altitudes 59 

Bones, Marrow ^6 

Brains, Fried 66 

Braising 55 

Brandy H 

147 



148 INDEX. 

Bread, 4; Army, lOT; Corn, 110, 111; "Gritted," 
112; Lungwort, 109; Self-rising, 108; Snow, 
111; Sour-dough, 108; Stale, 114; To raise in a 

pot, 108; Unleavened, 109; Wheat 105 

BreadstuflFs 102 

Breakfast foods 120 

Broiling 52, 83 

Brunswick stew 68 

Buckwheat cakes 114 

Bullhead, To skin 44 

Butchering 36 

Butter, To keep 8 

Cabbage 130 

Cakes, Buckwheat, 114; Grits, 114; Mixed, 114; 

Oatmeal, 114; Potato, 114; Rice 114 

Canned fruit, 2; meats, etc., 6; vegetables 121 

Canvasback, Baked 78 

Carrots 9, 130 

Catfish, To skin 44 

Caul fat 40 

Cauliflower 130 

Celery seed 80 

Cereals, 119 ; Left-over 120 

Cheese 8 

Chests 16 

Chocolate 11, 136 

Chowder, Clam, 92 ; Fish 8T 

Citric acid 11 

Clam chowder 92 

Clams, Baked 91 

Coals 29 

Cobbler, Fruit 141 

Codfish balls, 97 ; hash, 97 ; Stewed 97 

Coffee 10, 135 

Coffee pot 22, 27 

Cold weather rations 12 

Condiments 3, 11, 49 

Cook's measures 144 

Cooking, General principles of 49 

Coon, Baked 72 

Coot 79 

Corn bread, 110, 111; cakes, 114; dodgers, 110; 

Green, 127; meal, 5; mush, 118; Stewed canned 130 

Corned beef. Boiled, 95; hash 96 

Crayfish 90 

Croutons 115, 132 

Cups 22, 27 

Curry of game 69 



INDEX, 149 

Damper, Australian 103 

Deer brains 66 

Deer head, Baked 56 

Deer, To butcher, 37; To hang, 36; To skin, 3T; 

Weight of 41 

Desserts 136 

Dock 129 

Dough, To mix without a pan 110 

Doughnuts 140 

Dressing, Salad 128 

Dried beef, 6 ; Creamed 96 

Duck, Baked, 78; Stewed, 78; To dress 43 

Ducks, Fish-eating 79 

DuflP, Plum 142 

Dumplings 67, 117 

Dutch oven 24, 104 

Eel, Broiled, 89 ; Stewed, 89 ; To skin 45 

Eggs, 99; Boiled, 101; Desiccated, 7, 99; Fried, 99; 

Poached, 101 ; Scrambled 99 

Elk, To butcher 40 

Enameled ware 22 

Fat, 12; Caul 40 

Fire irons 19 

Fires 28 

Fish, 82; Baked, 84; Baked in clay, 85; Boiled, 59, 

86; Broiled, 52, 83; cakes, 88; Canned, 6; 

chowder, 87, 88; Creamed, 88; Cured, 93, 97; 

Fried, 50, 51, 82; from muddy streams, 82; 

Left-over, 86, 88; Planked, 84; Roasted, 84; 

roe, 89; Salt, 97; Skewered, 83; Smoked, 7, 96; 

Steamed, 85; To clean, 44; To dry, 47; To 

keep 46 

Flapjacks 113 

Flour 5 

Food components, 12; Relative values of, 3; To 

pack 15 

Fowls, To dress 42, 77 

Fricasseeing 52, 75 

Fritter batter 116 

Fritters 115 

Friture 8, 51, 83, 116 

Frog legs 89 

Frozen game and fish 65 

Fruit, Canned, 9; Dried, 10; Dried, Jelly from, 

137 ; Dried, Stewed, 136 ; Preserved 9 

Fruits, Wild 138 

Frying 50, 61, 82 

Frying fat 8, 51, 83, 116 



150 INDEX. 

Frying-pan 23, 27 

Fuel 31 

Game birds, Broiled, 75; Fricasseed, 75; Fried 75 

Game, Boiled, 58; Braised, 55; Broiled, 52; Cook- 
ing, 65; Curry of, 69; Fried, 50; Hanging, 65; 
pie, 69; pot pie, 67; Roasted, 53; Stewed, 59, 

60 ; To dress and keep, 36 ; To ship 47 

Giblets 76 

Goose, Roast, 77 ; To dress 42 

Grates 18 

Gravy, Bacon, 94; Braising, 55; Cream, 63; for 
broiled meat, 62; for roasts, 62; from beef 

extract, 62; Pork, 94; Rabbit 70 

Greens 127 

Grilling on a rock 53 

Grits, Boiled, 120; Fried 120 

"Gritted" bread 112 

Groundhog 74 

Grouse, Broiled, 79; Roasted, 79; To dress 42 

Ham, 6; and eggs, 94; Boiled, 95; Broiled, 95; 

Fried, 95; omelet 100 

Hare 70 

Hash, Corned beef 96 

Heart, To cook 66 

Herrings, Smoked 98 

Jam 9 

Jambolaya 68 

Jelly from dried fruit 137 

Jerked venison 6 

Johnny cake 110 

Kabobs 54 

Kidneys, Stewed 66 

Kindling 34 

Lard 8, 51, 116 

Lemons 11 

Liver, 62; and bacon, 93; Fried, 66; Roasted 66 

Lobscouse 96 

Macaroni, 5; Baked, 118; Boiled, 117; with cheese. 118 

Marrow-bones, Boiled 66 

Match, To light in a wind 35 

Measures 144 

Meat, 49; Boiled, 58; Braised, 55; Broiled, 52; 

Canned, To cook, 96, 97; Cured, 93; Fried, 50; 

Roasted, 53; Salt, Boiled, 59; Steamed, 60; 



INDEX. 151 

Stewed, 59; To cure, 45; To protect, 41; 

Tough 50, 55 

Milk, Evaporated, 8 ; Powdered 8 

Milt, Broiled gg 

Moose, To butcher 40 

Moose muffle 67 

Mud-hen * 79 

Mush, Boiled, 118; Fried ......!.....!.* 118 

Mushrooms 129 

Muskrat 73 

Nut butter g^ 10 

Nuts * If 

Oatmeal porridge , II9 

Oats, Rolled [] 5 

Oil, Olive .8, 88 

Omelet, Fancy, 100; Ham, 100; Plain, 100; Rum.. 100 

Onions, 9 ; Boiled l^g 

Opossum [ 71 

Outfitter's data I44 

Oven 24 104 

Oysters, Fried, 91; Roasted, 91; Saut6, 91; Seal-* 

loped, 91 ; Stewed 90 

Packing food 15 

Pails !21, 24, 27 

Pancakes, Egg, 113 ; Snow 113 

Parboiling 59, 65 

Parsnips 130 

Pea soup 133 

Peas, Green, 130; Split 9 

Pepper H 

Percolator qq 27 

Pheasant 79 

Pie, Fruit, 139; Game 69 

Planking 84, 103 

Plaster, Surgeon's 15 

Plover 79 

Plum duff 142 

Poke, Boiled 128 

Polenta 119 

Porcupine 73 

Pork, Salt See Salt pork 

Porridge 118 

Possum, Baked, 71, 72; Roasted 72 

Pot pie 67 

Potato cakes 123 

Potatoes, 8; and onions hashed, 125; Baked, 123; 



152 INDEX. 

Boiled, 122; Boiled in jackets, 122; Fried, 124; 

Fried, raw, 124; Lyonnaise, 124; Mashed, 123; 

Steamed, 60, 123; Stewed, 124; Sweet 125 

Prairie chicken 79 

Provisions 1 

Prunes, Stewed 136 

Pudding, Batter, 142; Cottage, 142; Fruit, 141; 

Rice, 141 ; Snow 141 

Quail 79 

Quoits, Fried 115 

Rabbit, Baked, 71; Fried, 70; Roasted, 71; Stewed, 

71; To dress 70 

Raccoon 72 

Ragouts 60 

Rail 79 

Ration lists 11, 15 

Reflector 23, 27, 55 

Rice, 5; Boiled, 119; Curried, 120; Fried, 120; muf- 
fins 120 

Risotto 120 

Roasting, 53, 62; in reflector 55, 84 

Roe 89 

Rolls, Breakfast 107 

Roux 62 

Saccharin 10 

Sardines, Fried 99 

Salad dressing, 128; Scalded 128 

Salads 127 

Salmon, Canned, 98; Creamed, 98; on toast, 98; 

Scalloped 98 

Salt 11, 15 

Salt fish. Boiled, 97; Broiled 97 

Salt pork and hardtack, 95; Boiled, 94; Broiled, 

94; Fried, 94; fritters 94 

Sauce, Barbecue, 55; Brandy, 143; Butter, 86; 
Celery, 80; Cranberry, 80; Curry, 80; Fruit, 
143; Giblet, 76; India, 87; Lemon, 87; Mus- 
tard, 63; Sweet, 143; Tomato, 117; Venison, 

63; White 86 

Sausage, Fried, 52 ; Pork, 95 ; Venison 67 

Saut6ing 51 

Scent glands 65, 70, 73 

Seasoning 49, 133 

Shellfish 90 

Skilligalee 133 

Slumgullion 96 

Smudges ^ , , . ^ . ^ . ^ » 36 



INDEX. 153 

Snipe 79 

Snits uiid Knepp 140 

Snow bread, 111; pancakes, 113; pudding 141 

Soda, 5 ; Substitute for 112 

Sorrel 129 

Soup, Bean, 133; Condensed, 7, 133; Game, 131; 
Pea, 133; seasoning, 132; Squirrel, 132; stock, 

132 ; Tomato, 132 ; Venison 130 

Spinach 130 

Spleen, Broiled 66 

Sprats, Smoked 98 

Squirrel, Barbecued, 69; Broiled, 69; Fried, 69; 

soup, 132; Stewed, 68, 69; To skin 43 

Steak, Broiled 52, 53 

Steaming GO, 85 

Stew, Brunswick, 68; with canned meat 96 

Stewing 59 

Stock pot 133 

Stoves 18 

Stuffing 76 

Sugar 10, 12 

Surgeon's plaster 15 

"Surprise," The 50 

Sweet potatoes. Boiled, 125 ; Fried 125 

Syrup 10 

Tea 11, 135 

Time-tables xi, 78, 130 

Tinware 22 

Toast, French, 114; Milk 115 

Tomato soup 133 

Tomatoes, Canned, 9 ; Stewed 129 

Tongue, Boiled 67 

Trout, To clean 43 

Turkey, Boiled, 77; Roast, 54, 76; Stuffing for, 76; 

To dress 43 

Turnips 130 

Turtle 90 

Utensils 18 

Variety 3 

Vegetables, Boiled, 121; Canned, 9, 121; Cleaning, 

121, 122; Dehydrated, 9, 121; Storing 122 

Venison, Baked, 55; Boiled, 58; Braised, 53; 
Broiled, 52; Dried, 121; Fried, 50; Hanging, 
65; Jerked, 6; Roast, 53; sausage, 67; soup, 

130; Steamed, 60; Stewed, 59; To cure 45 

Vinegar 11 



154 INDEX. 

Warbles 71 

Water in food 9 

Waterfowl, To dress 77 ' 

Weights and measures 144 1 

Woc^chuck 73 

Woodcock 79 



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OUTING HOW TO BOOK No. 7. 



THE BOOK OF 

Camping fe? Woodcraft 

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THEJOOK 
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OUTING HOW TO BOOK N o. 2. 



Boat Sailing 

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By CAPTAIN A. J. KENEALY 

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THIS is the ninth edition of a capi- 
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Includes advice afid directions on 
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OUTING HOW TO B O O K No, J. 

Wilderness Homes 

A Book of the Log Cabin 
By OLIVER KEMP 

Illustrated with half-tones from ^kotog-rafhs of log' cabins, 
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^HIS volume tells how the amateur can 
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Making Plafis. — The Fireplace.— The 
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Mountaift Sheep.— The Antelope.— The Bear.— The Cougar.— 
The Lynx.— The Domestic Cat — The Wolf .— The Coyote — The 
Fox. — The Jack Rabit. — The Varying Hare — The Cottontail 
Rabbit. — The Squirrel. — The A4arten afid the Black-Footed Fer- 
ret.— The Otter.— The Mink. — The Ermine.— The Beaver — The 
Badger.— The Porcupine. — The Skunk. — Feathered Game.— 
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This book is invaluable to the novice as well as the experi- 
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OUTING HOW TO BOOK No. j. 



Fishing Kits ^ Equipment 



ly SApMUEL G. CAMP 

Pocket size — 4^ xy\ inches. Illustrated. 
Cloth. % J. 00 postpaid. 

A complete guide to the angler buying 
a new outfit. Every detail of fish- 
ing kit of the freshwater angler is 
described, from rod-tip to creel and cloth- 
ing. Special emphasis is laid on outfitt- 
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is also given to the man who wants to 
catch pickerel, pike, muskellunge, lake- 
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fishes. Prices are quoted for all articles 
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3^ 



FISHING KITS 
« EQUIPMENT 

Jby SAMUEL C. CAMP 




V -^ 



1.9 1911 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



UM i)y um 



